AN eight-year-old girl has died after spending four days alone with a convicted child sex offender in Western Australia’s remote desert, The Australian reported.
The girl was found alive with Augustine Winter Miller, 38, late yesterday afternoon in a remote Aboriginal community near the Gibson Desert but she was seriously ill and died soon after.
“The child was severely dehydrated and unwell when police located her,” police spokeswoman Susan Usher said last night.
“She lapsed into unconsciousness and police commenced CPR.”
Usher said the girl did not regain consciousness.
“Her death is being treated as suspicious. Kalgoorlie detectives are continuing their inquiries,” Usher said.
Miller was in police custody last night, she said.
Kalgoorlie’s Royal Flying Doctor Service was despatched to the girl’s small community of Tjirrkarli, about 180km northwest of Warburton, but the girl died before a doctor could treat her.
The Australian understands the pair had little food and water during the four days they spent in remote terrain near Tjirrkarli.
They went missing on New Year’s Eve after telling locals they were going kangaroo hunting. A police air and foot search was mounted and by Monday police issued an alert saying they were concerned for the girl’s safety.
The pair was found after Miller’s car – a 2001 white Holden Commodore – was spotted from a police plane about 13km from Tjirrkarli about 2pm (WST) yesterday.
Police spokesman Sergeant Gerry Cassidy said officers on the ground then searched the area.
“This was an arduous task in difficult terrain and took some time,” he said. “En route to the vehicle, searchers located both (the girl) and Augustine Miller.”
The Australian understands the girl’s mother has been Miller’s partner for three months.
It is understood Miller’s 2006 conviction of a sexual relationship with a child under the age of 16 was widely known in Tjirrkarli and bordering communities.
Miller had been sentenced to 15 months’ jail.