Updated ,first published
A major search is under way for a seven-year-old girl whose father was found dead in Parramatta River on Saturday morning, as police investigate whether domestic violence was involved.
Officers attached to Burwood Police Area Command were called to Bayview Park in Concord in Sydney’s inner west just before 11.45am after a Triple Zero call alerted them to a man floating in Parramatta River.
Officers boarded the boat of the member of the public who had made the call to reach the man and hauled him back into the boat he had hired earlier this morning, NSW Police Superintendent Christine McDonald said.
Police performed CPR, but the man could not be revived.
“We also know that a seven-year-old girl is also missing,” McDonald said. “We know that she was on board that boat, and currently, there is a major search operation under way to locate her.”
The man and girl are father and daughter, McDonald said.
About an hour after the man’s body was found, a friend called the police with concerns for the welfare of the father and child, McDonald said.
The child’s mother has been told her daughter is missing, and she is assisting police with their inquiries, McDonald said.
“Obviously, a mother in this situation who knows that her husband is now deceased, who also knows that a major search operation is under way for her seven-year-old daughter, her only child … it would rock any mother to the core,” McDonald said.
McDonald said that police were pursuing several lines of inquiry, including whether the man’s death was accidental or intentional.
Asked whether police were considering this as a domestic violence incident, McDonald said: “It’s a definite line of inquiry”.
“Our officers will search until we locate the seven-year-old girl,” McDonald said. “I can’t tell you how committed our officers are right now to locating her. We are all out. We are looking in every possible place, on the foreshore and in the water. We want to locate her as soon as possible.”
The father and child have not been formally identified, but police believe the father is in his 40s and that both he and the girl lived in Westmead, in western Sydney.
“This is an absolute tragedy for the family and the community on every level,” McDonald said.
Police have established a command post at the scene and commenced a search operation to locate the girl.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact Burwood police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
More to come
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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