The 20th anniversary of a Townsville Bulletin article this week brought back mystery and tragedy. It was earlier that year, in January 1999, when 20-year-old Maria Soper intended to drive between the town of Julia Creek to Dalgonally Station, the place of her employment as a gardener. The drive ended mid route when the vehicle overheated, and Maria made the fatal decision to leave her car and commence the hot walk towards the cattle station. Without sun protection and failing to see several water sources; the running Julia Creek, an enormous tank and a long water trough, Maria succumbed to heat stroke and died hours into the journey.
Julia Creek Police Station and vehicle pictured in August 1973. The same building is in use today, complete with a coat of paint and modernised technology.
Image PM3147 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
A coronial inquest to examine the circumstances of Maria’s death included a test conducted by the Officer-in-charge of Julia Creek Police Station, Sergeant James (Jim) Whitehead. Sergeant Whitehead knew the terrain, how devastating 40°C heat could be to a dehydrated person with little shelter who was becoming more disoriented as minutes ticked by. The policeman decided that to best demonstrate this to Ms Soper’s family he would test the walk himself. Wearing a hat, walking shoes, and carrying water to mitigate the effects when they became extreme, Sergeant Whitehead, then aged 37, set off for the trek on Old Normanton Road in similar weather conditions experienced by Maria.
Townsville Bulletin clip, November 9 1999.
The journey took 3 hours and 10 minutes, but the effects took their toll for much longer; suffering blisters on both feet, the Sergeant attended the Julia Creek Rural Hospital where discussion about his test the previous day prompted further examination which revealed renal failure. A saline drip stemmed worsening kidney damage. Sergeant Whitehead described the walk, “I could see the police car in the distance, but it would disappear in the heat haze. I focused on cow pats and grass to keep walking. The further you go the more your mind starts to wander, and it is hard to focus.”
The Townsville Bulletin articulated the extraordinary service performed by the Sergeant, identifying the re-enactment as evidentiary and suggesting the ‘lessons learned should become a textbook case’ and ‘serve to explain why Ms Soper, a novice in such an unforgiving environment, failed to see the nearby river and large water tank. But the reasons why Ms Soper chose to leave her car, why she did not wear a hat and why she carried no water still remain a mystery.’
Now a Senior Sergeant, Jim Whitehead is the State Search and Rescue Coordinator and Training Officer providing support and strategic direction to search and rescue services in partnership with all Queensland emergency services.
Image courtesy of Senior Sergeant Jim Whitehead, on the case of search and rescue in 2019.
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This article was written by Georgia Grier, Museum Assistant at the Queensland Police Museum, from resources provided by Senior Sergeant Jim Whitehead. The Police Museum is open from 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb – Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Email: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT- Sergeant Takes Calculated Risk For Coronial Inquest” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode