Police have refused to comment on claims that the mother who plunged to her death with her two small children had begged them for help moments before they died.

Helena Wright, 36, was found floating dead in the ocean below treacherous cliffs in South Australia’s Port Macdonnell, alongside her 23-month-old daughter Hazel.

Her three-month-old son Louis remains missing – and police say they believe there is ‘zero’ chance he will be found alive. 

Superintendent Trent Cox confirmed the deaths were being treated as murder-suicide at a press conference on Wednesday.

But he refused to comment on claims Ms Wright had gone to Mt Gambier police station on Sunday ‘asking for help’, but was told to ‘come back on Monday’.

Supt Cox declined to answer the question, saying the matter was still subject to coronial investigation. 

‘I’m not confirming anything or denying anything. I’m saying we will provide factual evidence to the coroner as part of that brief. Like I said, that any contact with police will form part of the brief that we provide the coroner as part of an investigation,’ he said.

Fishermen found the bodies of Helena and Hazel in the waves at the foot of cliffs at Cape Northumberland, near Port Macdonnell in the state’s southeast, on Monday.

The death of Helena Wright and her daughter is being investigated as a murder-suicide

Ms Wright was from Estonia, and lived in the Mt Gambier region with her husband Brad

Police were called to Cape Northumberland on Monday around lunchtime

Ms Wright, her husband Brad and their young children lived Compton, a semi-rural community on the outskirts of Mt Gambier, 30km north of where she fell to her death. 

She has been described as a much-loved member of the community, was on the committee of the Mt Gambier Toy Library charity, and was originally from Estonia.

According to the Adelaide Advertiser who spoke to neighbours, Brad had gone to work on Monday morning as normal.

‘Bubbly’ Helena and Brad were often seen in their garden playing with the children.

‘Helena would have Hazel on the swing, and he had Louis strapped to him, and they would be out on that swing for hours,’ one neighbour said.

‘They’re very religious … they go to the church every Sunday,’ they said, adding that Helena was a stay-at-home mum who would make her children’s clothes. 

The neighbours said Helena was a stay-at-home mum who enjoyed making children’s clothes.

Police are looking into the case as a murder suicide after determining there was no other person involved.

Police said more SES volunteers were arriving from Adelaide on Wednesday morning

If the infant is not found in the water, authorities will continue to scour the shoreline 

It’s understood they have spoken to Ms Wright’s devastated husband. 

The search for the missing baby boy will continue into Wednesday afternoon, when a decision will be made on whether to abandon the desperate hunt.

‘The reality is that after three days the chances of finding the baby alive are zero. This is now a retrieval effort,’ Supt Cox said.

Police were called to Cape Northumberland car park – at Australia’s most southern point – at 11.30am on Monday, after the mother’s white Isuzu MU-X was found abandoned with its engine running.

The bodies of Ms Wright and her daughter were then spotted floating in the water, although there has been no sign of her infant son.

Emergency services have undertaken a waterway search along the treacherous coastline, amid difficult weather conditions earlier in the week that had eased slightly on Wednesday.

A fresh SES crew arrived in Port Macdonnell on Wednesday from Adelaide. 

Officers are also scouring the shoreline – and if the infant is not found today, they are expected to continue the land search in coming weeks.

A Port Macdonnell resident told the Daily Mail that items often wash up along the township’s shoreline. 

Given the traumatic nature of Ms Wright and the children’s deaths, psycological help has been on standby for responders.

With the tight-knit South-East community reeling from the tragedy, Supt Cox urged locals to ‘give your kids an extra tight hug’. 

‘Look after yourselves, look after your loved ones… It’ll affect the community whether they have children or not, because the deaths of such young children and a mother in these circumstances is tragic on so many levels. So, just wrap your arms around everyone,’ he said.

Supt Cox warned people to refrain from online speculation and misinformation, which has been circulating since Monday.

‘I always go back to how the how the father would be coping, how he would would be interpreting or listening to that sort of commentary. It just doesn’t benefit anyone,’ he said. 

‘So that’s why we only release information once we’re confident that it’s 100 per cent accurate.’

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