Wild Weekend For RACQ CQ Rescue

From rescuing a missing bushwalker lost in the wilderness, to assisting with a high-speed chase following an alleged kidnapping, RACQ CQ Rescue provided an eye in the sky for the police last weekend.

The helicopter service was tasked at about 11.30pm on 12 February by the Queensland Police Service to ‘assist, trace and tail’ a vehicle which reportedly had a kidnapped child on board last seen headed south of Mackay at high speed.

With a police officer on the chopper, the RACQ CQ Rescue crew departed base at Mackay Airport and quickly located and tracked the Toyota Corolla as it sped south along the Bruce Highway just after midnight.

It is believed police stingers/spikes were deployed near Bakers Creek, but only one wheel of the alleged offenders’ vehicle was punctured. The helicopter crew reported seeing sparks and smoke coming from the rim of the vehicle as it continued along the highway.

The car finally stopped on Sarina Beach Road and the rescue helicopter crew reported seeing at least two people running from the vehicle into a residential area nearby.

The helicopter continued to ‘help from above’, assisting police by flying over the area and using the spotlight and Night Vision Goggles (NVG) to locate the offenders who were seen jumping fences and entering yards in the vicinity of Millennium Drive.

Mackay detectives have since charged two young adults allegedly involved in a deprivation of liberty incident in Sarina on Saturday night (12 February).

19-year-old Storm Michael Spurling has been charged with one count of deprivation of liberty, dangerous operation of a vehicle, unlawful possession of suspected stolen property and common assault.

18-year-old Kate Elizabeth Hill has been charged with one count of deprivation of liberty and unlawful possession of suspected stolen property.

It was alleged that two teenage boys, aged 13 and 14, were walking along Coles Hill Road, at around 7.20pm when a blue sedan pulled up. The 14-year-old boy, who did not know the pair, refused to get into the vehicle and it will be alleged a bladed weapon was then produced and the boy made to enter the car.

The car then drove to Slade Point where Ms Hill and Mr Spurling pulled over and parked the vehicle. The 14-year-old took this opportunity to flee and ran to a nearby business where police were called. The 13-year-old boy, who knew the pair, remained with the vehicle and its occupants. No one was injured.

Ms Hill and Mr Spurling appeared in the Mackay Magistrates Court on Tuesday February 15. Mr Spurling was denied bail and will appear in court in March. He denied using a knife to force the 14-year-old into Ms Hill’s car. Ms Hill was granted bail as it was determined she was the passenger. Ms Hill was already on probation for dishonesty and drug-related offences and has also been further charged with possession of stolen property.

Earlier the same evening, RACQ CQ Rescue successfully searched for and rescued a lone bush walker from a rocky shoreline near Smalley’s Beach at Cape Hillsborough.

A 57-year-old Mackay woman was reported missing by her husband when she didn’t return to their campsite from a walk in the area, about 40km north of Mackay.

After nearly two hours of low-level flying and using the aircraft spotlight to scour the bush land, rocky hills and beaches of the national park, the crew finally spotted the walker in the dark, waving her mobile phone flashlight. She was located south of Smalley’s Beach on a rocky shoreline after becoming disoriented on a walking trail and cut off by the incoming tide.

RACQ CQ Rescue conducted five search missions in three days earlier this week, from assisting Police in an erratic car chase, to searching for people lost, missing or fleeing and assisting an ill fisherman at sea. Photo credit: RACQ CQ Rescue

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