Arabic version: بورت ماكدونيل تدعم المتطوعين بعد وفاة أفراد من عائلة

According to ABC News, residents of Port Macdonnell are supporting emergency-service volunteers and one another after the deaths of Helena Wright, 36, and her 23-month-old daughter near the South Australian coastal town. Police are treating the deaths of Ms Wright and her two children as a murder-suicide.

Ms Wright and her daughter were recovered from the ocean on Monday after falling from cliffs near Cape Northumberland. Her two-month-old son remains missing. Emergency services and volunteers searched from Monday to Wednesday, using helicopters, planes and boats before weather conditions restricted efforts to foot patrols along the coastline.

Police ended the formal search on Wednesday afternoon, saying the baby could not have survived almost three days in the conditions. Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said officers would continue monitoring the shoreline in coming days in the hope of recovering the infant.

Country Fire Service Kingsley Group officer Grant Fensom said volunteers believed Monday’s more favourable conditions offered the best chance of finding Ms Wright and her children. He said locals, SES members and police had done their best, while wet, windy weather and rough seas made the following days difficult.

Salt cafe owner Mel Lewis donated more than 30 meals to police, SES volunteers and others involved in the operation. She said a sadness had fallen over the town, while people were also reaching out to family and friends. Emergency services volunteer Roger Bobolka said the incident had affected people across Port Macdonnell and would remain with the community.

Police said Ms Wright attended a local police station the day before the deaths, and officers carried out a welfare check at her Compton home hours before her vehicle was found running near the cliffs. The matter is part of a coronial investigation, with SA Police to examine Ms Wright’s interactions with police and other services in the days before her death.