Outrage after Bundaberg tribute page trashed

Police say they are examining their legal options after vandalsreportedly posted pornographic material and offensive comments on aFacebook tribute to a murdered eight-year-old girl.

Police say they are examining their legal options after vandals reportedly posted pornographic material and offensive comments on a Facebook tribute to a murdered eight-year-old girl.

The girl's body was found in a drain not far from her Walker Street home on Monday morning.

Her parents reported her missing shortly before her body was discovered and police have said there were signs of a break-in at the family home.

Facebook vandals carried out similar attacks on a tribute page for murdered Brisbane schoolboy Elliott Fletcher last week.

Facebook tribute pages were quickly established yesterday, with thousands of people registering to express their grief.

However, it took only a few hours for offensive images and comments to appear.

Supporters of the pages reacted angrily this morning, calling on Facebook to act quickly to rid the site of the unwanted postings, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Some called on the site to be deleted. The site is still operating.

Messages of support for the girl's family rapidly turned to an outpouring of anger at those who infiltrated the site.

Anger was also directed at the person who established the page for apparently abandoning it, leaving members to add comments without being moderated.

Bundaberg in shock

For residents around Walker Street, where the little girl lived, the fear is real, as is the grief.

Some have left flowers on the corner of Walker and Hunter streets, about 50 metres from the drain where the girl was found.

"Sleep in peace little angel. RIP beautiful girl. We never knew you or your family but our thoughts are with you. XXX May you dance with the angels," one card reads. "Too young to be taken ... forever in our hearts!" reads another.

A teddy bear has also been left. Neighbour Darryn Brown said the crime happened very close to his house and it was a devastating blow for the community.

He said he didn't know the family nor did he hear any commotion on Monday morning. "I just woke up yesterday with coppers everywhere.

"You could never envisage it happening here. It's worse than awful, there's no word to describe it." There is anger too.

One man who showed up to lay flowers for the slain girl said: "If they catch the bastard I hope they kill him."

"We live two streets away and we just don't know what to do," Rita Ammann said, tears streaming down her face as she laid flowers for the slain girl.

"We've got teenage boys and we've got one sleeping beside the three-year-old.

You can't trust anybody now. It's shocking."

Police reportedly questioning a man

Police won't confirm reports that officers are questioning a man known to the family of a murdered Queensland girl.

The Courier-Mail says a man, aged in his 20s, is being questioned by police investigating the murder of the eight-year-old girl in Bundaberg.

The man is known to the girl's family but police are not saying if he is a suspect, the report says.

Police said they could not confirm those details.




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