The bodies of a mother and two of her children who drowned in the swollen Tweed River yesterday have been recovered.
Stephanie King, 43, her son Jacob, 7, and daughter Ella-Jane, 11, were travelling along Dulguigan Road yesterday when their car fell in the river.
Matt Grinham, a former police officer, was passing by when he came across the accident. He and two others jumped in to try and save the family, but just couldn’t dive deep enough.
“We were going down feet first trying to work out where the car was,” he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
“Then we tried diving a couple of times but the water was so brown and cold … the flood run off is freezing down there.”
He also told Seven News:
“Just – the helplessness of not being able to find the car. The bubbles were there, we could find the bubbles, but we just couldn’t get to the car. They had no chance.”
Police say that Stephanie died trying to save one of her children.
“We all have accidents, they just have dire consequences in this situation,” NSW Police Superintendent Wayne Starling told reporters today.
“The road’s just so slippery over there. She died trying to save her child.”
Chloe-May is being looked after by family members.
Police have yet to establish what caused the vehicle to run off the road.
Photo: Supplied.
