IT’S silent but for the birds calling and the distant rumbling of a motorbike.
The popular section of Lake Moondarra is deserted.
It seems to be any ordinary Sunday morning at the junction. There are campfire ashes, tyre tracks, and the occasional piece of litter.
And then on the lake’s steep inclined bank there’s something out of place. Orange arrows are painted on the shore, pointing out into the lake.
The arrows were used to map out a search area. And yesterday the place was packed with police and emergency service vehicles.
It’s not a regular Sunday morning no matter how quiet it seems. Two hours earlier a nine-year-old boy’s body had been found in the water by divers who traveled overnight from Brisbane.
At around 11am on Saturday a 34-year-old man and a six-year-old boy on a jet ski suffered injuries when they crashed into the edge of the lake.
But what’s confused the community is where the nine-year-old boy was positioned at the time.
On Sunday morning, Mount Isa Police District Superintendent Kev Guteridge explains; “there is some conjecture as to whether he was standing on the bank or in the water.”
“At this stage we don’t know for sure. That will be part of the investigation,” he said.
“Now, that investigation is going to take a very, very long time to roll out, by the time we get our hands on all the information that is available to us.
“We are very, very appreciative of the information that’s been brought forward by the community, particularly the witnesses that were out there at the time.”
The speed of the jet ski would be one of the factors in the investigation, he said.
It took 19 hours to find the nine-year-old boy’s body.
“As you can appreciate, this isn’t a swimming pool here,” Superintendent Guteridge said.
“It’s very, very dark water and very risky conditions so we’ve got highly trained specialist police divers.
“Unfortunately they are not attached here in Mount Isa.
“There is one way to do this kind of job and that is the proper way. We had a lot of offers from people in the community.
“Unfortunately they don’t have the expertise to undertake this kind of work.
“We understand and appreciate their frustration. There is only one way. We’ve done that, we’ve done it properly and unfortunately the circumstances have led to what we’ve found here this morning.”
Superintendent Guteridge said a coroner has been briefed and will be advised further as the matter progresses.
Mount Isa Mayor Joyce McCulloch said the community was heavily affected.
“Mount Isa is a very resilient community but tragedies like this hits it very, very hard,” she said.
“Mount Isa is a very good outdoorsy place and it was obviously a very young family wanting to have a lot of fun. And then the tragic circumstances occurred.”
Councillor McCulloch said she was personally affected, as a local with children the same age as those involved in the accident.
“Like I say, the people were going out and having fun, not imagining this would occur, and they have the right to do that in life.”
She praised locals on their numerous offers to support police and emergency services during their search.
“They were inundated with offers of help around the accident. That does not surprise me because Mount Isa is such a close knit community.”
There was many social media posts, comments and well wishes towards the affected family.
One person posted; “I’m very saddened today to hear about this accident involving my close friend… my prayers and support are with you every day.”
