Family of five's ordeal: How their caravan was stolen while they were inside
- Replies 6
The tranquility of a family holiday was shattered in the small town of Hughenden, north-west Queensland when a family of five experienced a harrowing event that read more like a scene from an action movie than a peaceful caravan park stay.
In a startling incident that has left the local community and fellow travellers aghast, a family—including three children all under the age of 12—were thrust into a nightmare scenario when their caravan began to move unexpectedly, with them inside.
The family was enjoying the comforts of their mobile home at a caravan park more than 350 kilometres west of Townsville when, around 9 pm, they heard the engine of their car start and felt the caravan lurch into motion.
The family's quick thinking allowed them to escape unharmed, though not without a scare. They had to make a swift and dangerous exit from the moving caravan to avoid being unwilling passengers in what was quickly becoming a brazen theft.
The keys to their vehicle had been stolen earlier that day, which only added to the surreal nature of the evening's events.
The police have reported that the car and caravan were later found, but the search for the thief is still ongoing.
The family was taken to the hospital as a precaution, having sustained minor cuts and abrasions during their escape.
Witnesses at the scene described the moment as 'surreal.'
Victorian camper Donna Reading, who was staying at the caravan park, recounted the chaos of the night.
Given the loud metallic sounds and the screams that followed, she initially mistook the commotion for a train derailment or a road accident.
‘I started hearing like metal grating on the ground, extremely loud,’ Reading said.
‘At first, I thought it might have been a train coming off the tracks or a truck coming off the road.’
The thief, described as acting 'very erratically,' pulled over to let the family jump out before speeding away from the site.
The family attached the car to the caravan, a common security measure to deter theft.
However, this did not stop the determined thief, who took off with both the car and the caravan in tow.
‘It was just surreal. It just happened so quickly.’ Reading added.
‘You would just never expect something like that to happen, being kidnapped in your own caravan in a small little sleepy town.’
‘It does scare you a bit, I didn't sleep much last night.’
The incident has sent ripples of shock through Hughenden, a town with a population of around 1,000 people, where crime, especially of this nature, is uncommon.
The Flinders Shire Council interim chief executive, Bruce Davidson, expressed his disbelief at the dramatic theft, emphasising the town's typically low crime rate and the community's shock at such an aberration.
‘Normally the crime rate is very low ... so this is somewhat of an aberration for us,’ he said.
‘It's not an experience you'd wish to go through,’
‘I understand they'd connected their car to the caravan ... thinking they couldn't steal the car if it were connected. Obviously [the thieves] chose to take both.’
In other news, 70-year-old grandfather Ian Pope was the victim of a violent and unprovoked assault at the Akoonah Park camping and caravan park in Melbourne.
The incident began with a dispute over Mr Pope's driving with a woman and escalated when two men attacked him. For more details, click here.
Have you ever experienced anything similar, or do you have advice on how to prevent such occurrences? Your insights could be invaluable to the community. Feel free to share them in the comments below.
In a startling incident that has left the local community and fellow travellers aghast, a family—including three children all under the age of 12—were thrust into a nightmare scenario when their caravan began to move unexpectedly, with them inside.
The family was enjoying the comforts of their mobile home at a caravan park more than 350 kilometres west of Townsville when, around 9 pm, they heard the engine of their car start and felt the caravan lurch into motion.
The family's quick thinking allowed them to escape unharmed, though not without a scare. They had to make a swift and dangerous exit from the moving caravan to avoid being unwilling passengers in what was quickly becoming a brazen theft.
A family of five had to flee their caravan after it was stolen at a Hughenden, Queensland caravan park. Credit: Shutterstock
The keys to their vehicle had been stolen earlier that day, which only added to the surreal nature of the evening's events.
The police have reported that the car and caravan were later found, but the search for the thief is still ongoing.
The family was taken to the hospital as a precaution, having sustained minor cuts and abrasions during their escape.
Witnesses at the scene described the moment as 'surreal.'
Victorian camper Donna Reading, who was staying at the caravan park, recounted the chaos of the night.
Given the loud metallic sounds and the screams that followed, she initially mistook the commotion for a train derailment or a road accident.
‘I started hearing like metal grating on the ground, extremely loud,’ Reading said.
‘At first, I thought it might have been a train coming off the tracks or a truck coming off the road.’
The thief, described as acting 'very erratically,' pulled over to let the family jump out before speeding away from the site.
The family attached the car to the caravan, a common security measure to deter theft.
However, this did not stop the determined thief, who took off with both the car and the caravan in tow.
‘It was just surreal. It just happened so quickly.’ Reading added.
‘You would just never expect something like that to happen, being kidnapped in your own caravan in a small little sleepy town.’
‘It does scare you a bit, I didn't sleep much last night.’
The incident has sent ripples of shock through Hughenden, a town with a population of around 1,000 people, where crime, especially of this nature, is uncommon.
The Flinders Shire Council interim chief executive, Bruce Davidson, expressed his disbelief at the dramatic theft, emphasising the town's typically low crime rate and the community's shock at such an aberration.
‘Normally the crime rate is very low ... so this is somewhat of an aberration for us,’ he said.
‘It's not an experience you'd wish to go through,’
‘I understand they'd connected their car to the caravan ... thinking they couldn't steal the car if it were connected. Obviously [the thieves] chose to take both.’
In other news, 70-year-old grandfather Ian Pope was the victim of a violent and unprovoked assault at the Akoonah Park camping and caravan park in Melbourne.
The incident began with a dispute over Mr Pope's driving with a woman and escalated when two men attacked him. For more details, click here.
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funny movies weren’t they.
