Daily News Roundup

THURSDAY FEBRUARY, 13

Police say they are baffled by the death of a Brisbane school teacher they believe was kidnapped before he was fatally hit by a truck on the Pacific Highway in northern New South Wales. 

Emergency service crews were called to Cudgera Creek just after 7am on Monday and have since identified the deceased as 43-year-old Anthony Stott.

Further investigations led NSW detectives to a home where they arrested a 38-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man. 

They were charged with taking or detaining a person “in company with the intent to obtain advantage”. Police allege the two detained the 43-year-old and tied him to a chair at the property. 

“How he ended up at the property is unclear to us,” Tweed/Byron District Commander, Acting Superintendent Brendon Cullen said.

He said Mr Stott was no longer restrained when he was hit by the truck and was believed to have been walking along the motorway.

“We don’t know how he got there. We don’t know how he got away from there.” 

Mr Cullen described the case as “extremely unusual” and is appealing for further information. 

“It’s…quite baffling really to understand how the man from Brisbane would end up down here in these circumstances and now we find that he’s passed away,” he said. 

“We are very keen to find some answers and give some answers to the family involved.”

He said any information is important at this early state of the investigation.

“Anthony had only just returned to the country from a trip in Peru, landing in Sydney earlier last week, then at Brisbane Domestic Airport on Sunday afternoon.

“We have recovered his vehicle, which was located abandoned near the scene on the M1 about 2am on Monday morning.

“We’re also wanting to speak with anyone who may have seen his vehicle on Sunday afternoon-a silver BMW with NSW registration ANL 72Y.” 

Brendon Cullen said the truck driver was extremely shaken by the incident.

“It took the truck driver by surprise and it is particularly traumatic for the driver,” he said.

“The full circumstances are a little bit unclear as to how he came to be on the motorway and again if there are witnesses that may have seen anything we ask them to come forward.”

The pair charged have been refused bail and are scheduled to appear in court next week. 

####

A nursing home has been evacuated and people are forced to shelter in emergency accommodation due to flooding on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. 

Authorities decided to evacuate 40 residents from the ESTIA Nursing Home in Mt Coolum just before midnight following concerns over flooding and sewage issues. 

Over 230 millimetres of rain has fallen at the Sunshine Coast airport since 9:00am on Wednesday morning. 

Widespread falls across South East Queensland overnight caused flash flooding and streams to rise. 

Another 10 Coolum locals spent the morning in emergency accommodations after floodwaters threatened the structural integrity of their unit complex.

The group evacuated from their home just after 1:00am after water flooded the basement of the complex on the corner of David Low Way and Tanah St East. 

Resident, Keith Symonds, said he knew something was wrong when he saw emergency service lights flashing outside his unit as he was going to bed.

“I realised the water was running down the road and woke everybody up,” he said.

Four residents lost their cars in the flooding.

“It was waist-deep in the garage by the time the last car came out,” Mr Symonds said. 

Mr Symonds said he was anticipating a long wait for the building to be fixed.

“The power room is in the basement so the electricity went off once the power room filled up, so a number of people evacuated yesterday and all of us are going to have to go today until it’s repaired,” he said. 

BOM has also been closely watching the upper Brisbane River catchment, with a moderate flood level in place from Wednesday.

“Generally, south-east Queensland is pretty saturated,” Ms Oates said, adding motorists needed to take notice of weather warnings.

“We’ve had this similar situation since about Wednesday last week, where we’ve seen heavy rainfalls across the areas of south-east Queensland from about Bundaberg out to Roma and down to the Queensland border.

“There is a lot of localised flooding, a lot of swollen creeks and rivers, and generally pretty saturated ground.

“It’s not a good time to be on the road.” 

####

Two teenage schoolboys are expected to be charged with murder after the body of a father-of-three was found in bushland near the NSW South Coast town of Batemans Bay nearly two weeks ago.

Homicide detectives have arrested two 17-year-old boys at about 7am today in relation to the death of Canberra auctioneer Peter Keeley. Police believe he was using the dating app Grindr in his final days.

Their parents were present when they were arrested and the use of dating apps would form part of the case, police said.

“One of the lines of inquiry was the method of communication,” Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said. 

“There was a number of dating apps that were used, and one of those apps was Grindr, and that appears to be a method of communication that links him to one of the teenagers.” 

9News understands Mr Keeley was found with his legs and wrists tied with duct tape, not far from his car. 

Autopsy results came back as inconclusive but Mr Keeley had suffered injuries to his head and face. 

Mr Keeley was a successful auctioneer and a much-loved father-of-three.

For the past 10 days homicide detectives have been door-knocking in the town, speaking to locals and going through Mr Keeley’s phone to figure out who he had arranged to meet in the days before his death.