Queensland police have launched a major investigation into the “unexplained” death of a 7-month-old baby boy, who was found unresponsive in a lake at a campground in Chatsworth Park, just north of Gympie.
Emergency services received multiple triple-0 calls around 10:30am on Saturday, after the infant was pulled from the water by his mother, who, according to police, was visibly traumatised. The family had been camping about 40 metres from the lake overnight during a return trip to North Queensland.
Despite CPR efforts by multiple bystanders and immediate ambulance transport to Gympie Hospital, the boy was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said homicide investigators had been brought in to assist local police and child trauma specialists in determining how the child came to be in the lake.
“We are not treating this as suspicious,” he said, “but we are classifying it as unexplained, and there are still many missing pieces we need to clarify.”
No arrests have been made, and the police have interviewed the parents and all campers in the vicinity. However, Mansfield has urged anyone who was at the park between 9:00am and 11:00am—including drivers who may have passed by—to come forward.
He noted that several vehicles were seen leaving the rest area around the time of the incident, and although none of the occupants are persons of interest, they might possess crucial details.
“This has been an immensely tragic and distressing event, particularly for the mother who found her child,” Mansfield said. “Our priority now is to build a complete timeline and determine exactly what occurred.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
