LEFT TO DIE ON ROAD
’Cowardly act’ killed lovable Tablelander
RAVENSHOE man Michael Bowden, 20, loved a good suit and any opportunity to wear it.
Family member Denica Russ looks at this photo fondly saying the Rio Tinto trainee diesel fitter had just bought it at the time and was excited to try on the suit.
“We laugh because we asked him why he bought it and he said, ‘just to have a suit. You always need a good suit’,” she said.
Family have been devastated by the hit-and-run death of Mr Bowden in Weipa while the man who found his bloodied body has called it a dog act.
Police are determined to track down the driver.
FATAL hit-and-run victim Michael Bowden was “loving life” the night he was mown down and left to die.
The Rio Tinto trainee diesel fitter, described as a “happy, gentle young man”, had just moved into his own single-bedroom unit in the Cape York mining town of Weipa.
He loved his job, riding motorbikes, going fishing and hanging out with his two brothers and their little babies.
But, in a “cowardly, heartless act”, the 20-year-old was run over and killed by an unknown motorist, just a few hundred metres from his front door, as he walked home from a party in Weipa on Saturday at about 2.50am.
Food van owner Brenton Rosin found Mr Bowden’s bloodied body lying on the middle of the road and desperately tried to resuscitate him.
“How can you drive off and leave someone’s child dying in the middle of the road?,” a traumatised Mr Rosin said.
“It’s a dog act. It is unthinkable. It is such a cowardly, heartless thing to do.”
He said it looked like Mr Bowden was crossing the road to walk into his home street when tragedy struck.
“He was only a few steps from safety,” Mr Rosin said. “I tried CPR but his injuries were too horrific. He was gone.”
Detective acting Inspector Rob Campbell said Mr Bowden had significant injuries.
It was “hard to fathom” how someone could drive off after such a collision, acting Insp Campbell said.
“We’re keeping an open mind to the state of the driver,’’ he said.
Police are appealing for witnesses and for anyone who travelled on Northern Avenue on Saturday between midnight and 3am to contact them.
Police have obtained CCTV footage of vehicles on the streets of Weipa, looked at mobile phone locations and are checking vehicles for any sign of collision damage.
Every year thousands of fishing-mad fanatics and tourists converge on Cape York for the Weipa Fishing Classic which was held at the weekend.
Mr Bowden’s heartbroken family, of Ravenshoe, have told of the unfathomable loss.
“Everything was falling into place for him. Michael was loving life. He had a smile on his face the whole night,’’ family member Denica Russ said.
He wasn’t a big drinker, was happy and liked by all, and had never had any disagreements with anyone in town, she said.
Yesterday the family appealed for the motorist to come forward and “show some humanity” and explain the tragedy.
“It is hard to imagine the driver thought they’d hit an animal,’’ Ms Russ said.
It was easy for the family to assume the driver was drunk because “anyone in their right state of mind would have stopped and helped’’.
“It makes us think they were doing something wrong and decided to run. But how could you live with the guilt?”