'Sadness' falls across coastal community after double murder-suicide

Residents of a South Australian coastal town rocked by a double murder-suicide say a "sadness" has fallen across the tight-knit community. Helena Wright, 36, and her 23-month-old daughter were pulled from ocean near Port MacDonnell on Monday, with Ms Wright's two-month-old son still missing. Helicopters and planes flew over the scene on Monday while boats scoured the ocean nearby searching for the boy. Weather hampered search efforts on Tuesday and Wednesday, limiting searchers to foot patrols along the coastline. Police made the call to end the formal search for the baby boy as of Wednesday afternoon, saying he could not have survived almost three days in the conditions. Police are treating the death of Helena Wright and her two children as a murder-suicide. (Supplied)Also on Wednesday, police said Ms Wright had attended a local police station the day before the deaths. Police conducted a welfare check at her home at Compton, near Mount Gambier, just hours before the public found Ms Wright's vehicle running near the cliffs at Cape Northumberland. Country Fire Service Kingsley Group officer Grant Fensom's team is based in Port MacDonnell, and he helped rescue efforts. He said volunteers told police the best chance to find Ms Wright and her children was on Monday during the more favourable weather conditions. "The locals, let alone the SES and the police, did their absolute best to locate them on the first day, which obviously you know resulted in two people being found and not the third," Mr Fensom said. "The last two days it has been hard, been wet, it's been windy and the sea has definitely been rough. Police say they are continuing to search for the missing baby boy. (ABC News: Guido Salazar)"So it's been a trying time knowing that you can't get out there and actually probably continue a search to give some closure to some people."Mr Fensom said the incident was hard on a town that prided itself on being welcoming. "So to have something happen in our town is hard because people want to think that they can always help someone out that's in need," he said. Strength in speaking upSalt cafe owner Mel Lewis donated more than 30 meals to those on the ground as police and SES volunteers from around the state descended on Port MacDonnell to aid the search.Mel Lewis says the deaths have taken a toll on the tight-knit town. (ABC South East SA: Aiden McNamara)She said the entire town felt a "sadness". "People are coming together, maybe connecting a little bit more, reaching out to family, friends, hugging their children a little bit tighter," she said.Ms Lewis said it was important the town took the time to support one another. "It shows more strength to reach out and ask for help than to not," she said. "I know personally to do that, and it is very, very tough, but we have a lot of services around for us to be able to reach out."But even just your friends and your family, but like I said, it just shows so much more strength asking for help than not." Emergency services volunteer Roger Bobolka said the impact spread beyond those on the ground aiding the search effort. Roger Bobulka said the incident would "stick" with locals. (ABC South East SA: Aiden McNamara)"You can talk to anyone in town now and you can tell they've been impacted in some way because it's not the sort of thing you can just shut off and push aside and move on," he said. "It's the sort of thing that hangs around for quite some time and it will for the community. "I mean it's happened in a fairly prominent location within Port MacDonnell, so you can't get away from it."Shoreline monitoring continues Police Commissioner Grant Stevens told 891 ABC Adelaide officers would continue to monitor the shoreline for the missing baby boy despite ceasing the formal search."We will continue searching the shoreline in the coming days in the hope of being able to recover the little infant but we're not holding a lot of hope in that regard," he said.He said the deaths of children were "distressing" not only for police but for the community.Commissioner Grant Stevens says the incident is distressing. (ABC News)"It's heartbreaking to think we can't find the little infant, that sits heavily on the shoulders of the people involved, and it's not just police," he said.The bodies of Helena Wright and her 23-month-old daughter were recovered from the ocean. (ABC News: Guido Salazar)The commissioner added the case was now part of a coronial investigation and would not elaborate on any interactions Ms Wright had with police."That evidence [to the coroner] will include all of the activities involving Helena and her interactions with police, any other services in the days leading up to what we are now describing as a murder-suicide," he said.