Young Couple Missing In Tasmania Found Dead After Driving Their Rental Car Off Bridge
One body was found beside the overturned car, while the other was discovered about 20m downstream in the river.
Cover image via Two young Brisbane tourists who went missing during a road trip in Tasmania have been found dead after their rental car was discovered crashed in a river off Tebrakunna Road in the state's north-east
The bodies, believed to be those of Queenslanders Leannedra Kang and Takahiro Toya, both in their 20s, were found near the vehicle in the river along a remote forestry route rarely used by tourists.
The couple had been reported missing since Wednesday, 4 June, the day they were supposed to fly back to Brisbane, Australia. They had failed to board their flight from Launceston and did not return their rental car.
Speaking to the media, Tasmania Police Inspector Luke Manhood said the pair's last known phone signal was detected in the St Helens area on Tuesday afternoon, reported ABC News.
After new information from their families suggested they had travelled further north, police and emergency services launched a targeted search across a network of backroads between St Helens and Pioneer.
Police say the crashed car was found in the Great Musselroe River in Tasmania's far north-east off Tebrakunna Road.
Image via Google Maps
One body was found beside the car that had turned upside down, while the other was discovered about 20m downstream in the river
"We believe that the crash occurred on Tuesday afternoon, 3 June. We didn't find the vehicle until about 5.30pm, Friday, 6 June," Manhood said, adding that the cause of death is still under investigation.
However, it is believed the couple may have died on impact when their car veered off the bridge, which sits several metres above the river below.
The area where the vehicle was found is not part of the main route typically taken between the towns. Inspector Manhood noted that most travellers would usually follow the Tasman Highway.
"But I am aware that a lot of the mapping applications on people's phones will give them directions to travel by some of these dirt roads," he was quoted as saying by ABC News.
The incident has reignited concerns among local tourism operators and safety officials about the risks posed by navigation apps that may route drivers through less-travelled, unsealed roads without warnings.
Amy Hills, CEO of the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania, told ABC News that operators had previously raised the issue of navigation apps from Google and others steering tourists through obscure terrain.
"But I think we can also do that when visitors arrive and talk about where is the right and the safest routes to take around our state," she said while expressing her condolences to the couple's families.
