Dad’s worry ‘ignored’

Anguished father of slain little girl speaks out

WRAPPED in a plastic bin bag and buried in a shallow, unmarked grave, Kaydence Dawita Mills’ body was found almost four years after her father first raised concerns with the Department of Child Safety about her wellbeing and whereabouts.

Once detectives started looking for her in late 2019, it took five months to find the missing two-year-old’s body.

First raising the alarm with the Department of Child Safety in 2016, Kaydence’s biological father, Robert Mills, 36, said he made numerous reports as he held grave concerns for her safety, although it is alleged she died a year later under horrific circumstances in 2017.

Mr Mills’ ex-partner and Kaydence’s mother Sinitta Tammy Dawita, 28, and her partner Tane Saul Destage, 40, were charged with murder, torture and interfering with the toddler’s corpse on Monday, March 2, after her remains were found in a shallow grave at the Chinchilla Weir.

Mr Mills, who lives in Far North Queensland, believes his repeated requests made to Child Safety about his daughter’s wellbeing were not taken seriously because of his criminal past and the colour of his daughter’s skin.

Struggling to come to terms with his daughter’s horrific death, Mr Mills said he was shattered to lay his little girl to rest, but was thankful to finally have her home.

“Thank god we got her body back,” Mr Mills said. “This is a train wreck, I have to bury her in (two) weeks … her body is up here in Innisfail now, we’ve just brought her up here.

“St Vinnies have been really good, they’ve given me $10,000 towards it, and to help move her body because it’s such a long way with such a fragile ... there’s nothing left of her body.”

Mr Mills said he was determined to fight for a better system where this won’t happen to another family.

“Complaints with Child Safety, I want them to take it more seriously,” he said.

“No one has listened. No one took it seriously.

“I think it was swept under the carpet ... because she’s of Indigenous descent.”

A department of Child Safety, Youth and Women spokeswoman said the State Government department was unable to comment.