One of the three tragic victims killed in the horrific car crash in Queensland overnight has been identified as a doting mother of two.
Gypsy Satterley, 25, died in a suspected domestic violence murder when the ute she was in was rammed into the path of another vehicle on the Bruce Highway at Federal near Noosa on the Sunshine Coast.
Rafferty Rolfe, 25, from Yandina, who was allegedly in a stolen car which rammed her vehicle, is the sole survivor of the three-car collision, which occurred about 4am on Friday.
According to police, the stolen Isuzu MU-X was allegedly pursuing a northbound Nissan Navara which was carrying Rolfe’s girlfriend as a passenger.
It is believed the stolen Isuzu then rammed the Navara into the path of the third vehicle travelling southbound, a Chinese-made Great Wall.
Ms Satterley, who is believed to have two daughters aged around 6 and 8, and the 65-year-old man driving the Navara both died in the crash, along with Jessica Townley, 38, in the Great Wall vehicle.
The police said that the pair in the Navara were not acquainted before last night.
Gypsy Satterley, 25, (pictured) died in a suspected domestic violence murder when the ute she was in was rammed into the path of another vehicle on the Bruce Highway at Federal near Noosa on the Sunshine Coast
Rafferty Rolfe, 25, who was allegedly in a stolen car which rammed her vehicle, is the sole survivor of the three-car collision, which occurred about 4am on Friday
Three vehicles were involved in the horror crash at Federal, on the Bruce Highway. Homicide investigators are probing the crash
Investigations are underway to determine if he was a Good Samaritan who was helping her after she had earlier got out of the Isuzu.
Ms Satterley’s death is now being treated as a domestic-violence murder.
Rolfe was allegedly known to Queensland Police and was taken to hospital with serious head injuries where he remains under police guard.
On Friday night, he was charged with one count of robbery with violence whilst armed in relation to the alleged theft of the Isuzu.
He is scheduled to appear in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Monday, July 24.
Detective Superintendent Ben Fadian told reporters: ‘The white Isuzu was trying to ram the Nissan Navara motor vehicle.
‘As a result that vehicle [Nissan] crossed onto the southbound lanes of the Bruce Highway.’
Police also confirmed on Friday night that Ms Satterley and Rolfe had been in a relationship.
In a haunting final post to Facebook just four days ago, Ms Satterley, also from Yandina, posted a poem ‘Keep Going’ about pushing on the face of cruel adversity.
It includes the lines: ‘No matter how bad things are right now, no matter how many days you’ve spent crying, no matter how hopeless and depressed you feel…
‘I promise you me you won’t feel this way forever. Keep going.’
In an earlier post at the end of June she reposted another message, with the caption: ‘Rahhh raahhh you are a dead man.’
The post added: ‘Sometime we don’t really let go. We don’t really move on. We just learn to live with the loss. We learn how to smile when sad….
‘We carry on and hope for the best.’
Gypsy Townley (pictured) is believed to be the mother of two young girls aged around 8 and 6
In a haunting final post to Facebook just four days ago (pictured), Ms Satterley posted a poem ‘Keep Going’ about pushing on the face of cruel adversity
The crash occurred at Federal west of Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, as this map shows
Shocked friends paid tribute to the young mum after news of the tragedy spread.
‘She was meant to be at my house last night but I missed her call and she never showed,’ one told the Courier-Mail. ‘This time there was no tomorrow.
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‘Her brothers and sisters aren devastated along with her mother and father, we are all so shocked.
‘She’s a beautiful person who deserved more than life gave her. She never deserved this at all.’
The white Isuzu MU-X vehicle had been stolen 12 hours before the highway crash in a violent daylight carjacking in Gympie’s main street on Thursday, police said.
An alert for the vehicle was issued after a man armed with a knife threatened a mother and her three children as the family were getting into their car.
The terrified mother, Bec Alexander, got her kids out of the vehicle before handing over the car to the robber. She and her children were unharmed.
‘I was car jacked with three kids in the car,’ Ms Alexander said in a Facebook post. ‘A knife was pulled so the kids and I got out but my car was stolen!’
Police later spotted the stolen car, but the driver refused to stop and escaped. The car was not being pursued at the time of the incident.
The owner of the stolen white Isuzu, Bec Alexander (pictured) posted on Facebook at 6.35pm on Thursday that she had been held up at knifepoint: ‘I was car jacked with three kids in the car’
Police have confirmed one of the vehicles (pictured) involved in the crash was allegedly stolen from Gympie around 4.30pm Thursday
‘The tragedy is that there are three people now deceased and the ripple effect that has on their families,’ Detective Superintendent Fadian said.
Queensland Ambulance Service’s Sunshine Coast acting director Nigel Jones said it was a challenging event for all emergency services.
‘The scene was obviously quite confronting given the mechanism of the forces involved – it was clearly a very high-speed incident involving those vehicles,’ Mr Jones said.
‘So much so that our paramedics report that the two patients were killed on impact with a third patient, unfortunately, passing away shortly afterwards.’
Southbound lanes of the Bruce Highway are expected to be closed for an extended period, and diversions are in place.
Detective Supt Fadian described it as a complex investigation and appealed for anyone who saw the stolen Isuzu to contact police.
‘We also appeal for anyone who was driving on the Bruce Highway between Federal and Noosa turn-off this morning between 3am and 4am and may have seen that vehicle to please contact Crimestoppers,’ Det Supt Fadian said.
The forensic crash unit is investigating, and no charges have been laid.
The wreckage of a Nissan Navara ute involved in the crash crumbled against a barrier
