Kerrod James (left) and Ian James help NSW Fire Brigade Search and Rescue team search Sylvia Baillie's car in Rocky Creek. Photo / Toowoomba Chronicle
Ian James spent yesterday desperately searching the riverbank looking for any sign his missing 72-year-old mother had survived the floods.
But instead of good news, Mr James discovered her car crushed and lying in the bottom of a riverbed covered in trees and debris.
Sylvia Baillie is one of dozens
of people still missing near the tiny hamlet of Postman's Ridge at the base of the Toowoomba Range.
While clinging to hope that a miracle might happen, Mr James said he would always remember the last time he spoke to his mum on Monday.
"Mum was worried about the creek. It kept coming up, then dropping down," he said.
"I spoke to her at lunchtime ... I had a strange feeling about it and it turns out that that would be the last time I would hear from her."
Today, all that remains of Ms Baillie's home is a concrete slab. The rest has been washed away.
"The neighbours heard mum crying out for help and they just couldn't get to her.
"Mum's house just exploded and that is the last anyone has seen of her," Mr James said.
He said his mother was loved by everyone in the community.
"I am simply gutted. She was just the most amazing mother and such a beautiful person."
But with no word of her, he is preparing himself for the heartbreaking confirmation from authorities that she has not survived.
"We have searched the riverbanks for two days looking for her."
"However, I do hold hope. I have to, but I am also a realist."
