CHOPPER HELPS POLICE WITH TWO SEARCHES IN ONE DAY
February 13, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RESCUE CHOPPER HELPS POLICE WITH TWO SEARCHES IN ONE DAY
RACQ CQ Rescue has assisted police tracking a vehicle travelling erratically and at high-speed on the Bruce Highway after an alleged kidnapping incident in Mackay last night.
RACQ CQ Rescue was tasked about 11.30pm 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.
The helicopter was flying about 100 metres above the area for about an hour. It is believed the police dog squad also assisted in the operation.
Earlier the same evening, RACQ CQ Rescue successfully searched for and rescued a lone bush walker from a rocky shoreline near Smalleys 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.
RACQ CQ Rescue was tasked by Queensland Police about 6pm to an extensive land and coastal search of the area for the missing woman.
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 flash light. She was located south of Smalleys Beach on a rocky shoreline after becoming disorientated on a walking trail and cut off by the incoming tide.
As the helicopter hovered about 30 metres above, a rescue crewman was winched down onto the rocks to secure the very relieved (and apologetic) walker into a patient harness.
Both were then winched up into the helicopter within 10 minutes and the aircraft returned to base at Mackay Airport where the uninjured woman was finally reunited with her distressed husband. .
[ENDS]
RACQ CQ Rescue assisted Queensland Police with two missions last night including locating a missing bush walker near Cape Hillsborough as well as tracking a vehicle and alleged offenders after a reported kidnapping.
Please credit any released photos and video footage to RACQ CQ Rescue.
Please note: Full title of rescue service is RACQ CQ Rescue.
For further information please contact:
Naomi Noy
RACQ CQ Rescue
Ph: 0417 578 182