An Australian man will appear in court today charged over the rape and murder of his 10-year-old daughter in a holiday home north of Brisbane.
The 39-year-old was charged charged with murder, rape and indecent treatment of a child after the girl's body was found in the bedroomof a house at Bongaree, on Bribie Island, by her brother and sister yesterday morning.
Australian media reported today that the children could not find their father and another brother, and went to neighbours who called the police.
Police spent the day searching for the man and his seven-year-old son, who were eventually found at Mount Glorious in Brisbane's north-west.
The man was remanded in police custody to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court today.
It was reported today the family was known to the Department of Child Safety, having been the subject of "a small number" of low-level, "child concern" reports in the past three years.
It was believed the children had been in the custody of their father for several years.
A Department of Child Safety spokesman told the newspaper the agency was "working closely with police who are investigating this incident to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the (dead) child's siblings".
The family had rented the holiday home last Saturday for one week.
As well as examining the home where the girl's body was found, police cordoned off the Bribie Island Uniting Church directly across the road, seizing a blue plastic bag containing what appeared to be a hammer.
