Three young children spent two days stranded beside the wreckage of their family car while their parents lay dead inside before they were found by a relative.
Harrowing details have emerged about the horror crash in a town in Western Australia‘s Wheatbelt that took the lives of two young parents on Christmas Day.
Cindy Braddock, 25, Jake Day, 28, and their three children, all under the age of five, were last seen leaving Northam, about 100km east of Perth, at 1am on Sunday.
The family was making the 200km journey back home to Kondinin to spend Christmas with Mr Day’s mother.
When they didn’t arrive, concerned loved ones reported the family missing at 3pm on Monday.
Police confirmed the family’s maroon Land Rover had been found by a relative just before midday on Tuesday.
The car was found upside-down in an embankment just 10kilometres away from the family’s destination on Corrigin-Kondinin Road.
While both parents were found dead in the car, their three children survived and are believed to have been stranded at the scene for 48 hours before they were found.
Cindy Braddock, 25, Jake Day, 28, and their three children, all under the age of five, were last seen leaving Northam, about 100km east of Perth , at 1am on Sunday
The family had left Northam, WA, at about 1am on Sunday and were heading home to Kondinin, some 200km away
It’s understood the car flipped and crashed, killing the parents, and trapping their children inside.
Two of their children, a five-year-old girl and a two-year-old boy managed to free themselves from the wreckage and were found outside the car, while a two-month-old baby was still strapped inside.
All three were airlifted to Perth Children’s Hospital.
The youngest child is in a serious condition after suffering a significant head injury, while the older siblings are believed to be in stable conditions.
Mr Day’s cousin Michael Read said he felt ‘broken’ after hearing the news, and the whole community was in mourning.
‘My understanding was they left Northam early so Jack could be with his mum on Christmas,’ he told Seven News.
‘(I’m) pretty broken, not only have I lost my cousin, but one of my close friends, basically, we’re just taking one day at a time.’
The car was found upside-down in an embankment just 10kilometres away from the family’s destination on Corrigin-Kondinin Road, just before midday on Tuesday
Police say the death of the young parents will be a traumatic blow for their families and their tight-knit communities
Pictured are Jake Day and Cindy Braddock. The family were reported missing at 3pm on Monday
Mr Read said the pair were ‘really good parents’.
‘They are going to be pretty missed by everybody – not just family and friends but the community as well.’
He said his cousin was a ‘bubbly person’ and was ‘someone you could always get along with’.
Mr Read described Ms Braddock as ‘overprotective of her children’ and said the youngsters ‘always want mum’.
He said Mr Read’s daughter is a ‘bright kid’, who loved cooking and playdough.
Police had launched an ‘urgent’ search for the young family after they were reported missing on Monday afternoon.
The couple had last been seen at around 1am on Christmas Day, travelling in this maroon Land Rover Discovery wagon from Northam to Kondinin