A man is in police custody after allegedly leaving three young children alone in a car overnight in Southeast Queensland.
The children, including a three-year-old girl and two boys aged five and six, were discovered at a service station in Mount Warren Park, south of Brisbane, around 7am.
The 27-year-old man, known to the children, is currently assisting police with their investigation.
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Detective Acting Superintendent Mark White said that children were reported missing from Paradise Point around 4:30pm Sunday.
Police believed that the children were with a man known to them and were last seen in a blue Hyundai I30 bearing Queensland Registration 205SKW.
“Subsequently from that disturbance at Slacks Creek … the issue of the location of the children was raised,” Detective Acting Superintendent White said.
Authorities allege the man parked the car at the Mount Warren Park service station and then left the area alone.
“The information we have is that (the children) have been in the vehicle overnight by themselves,” White said.
“We’ve asked the Queensland Ambulance Service to get involved and medically assess the children to ensure they are safe and well. We just hope that the children are OK both physically and psychologically.”
Early Monday morning, Queensland Police received information that the children were at a 7-Eleven along Rochester Drive in Mount Warren Park.
An employee contacted police after the children walked to the store from the car.
The 27-year-old man has been arrested on unrelated charges and is expected to appear in court.
“We will be conducting a further criminal investigation as to why those children were in a car overnight by themselves at Mount Warren Park.”
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