‘No words can describe the pain and heartache’
FOR almost 20 years, Tania and Ben Carlyle have wondered who hated their father enough to pump four bullets into his head.
The dark cloud of not knowing why Philip Carlyle was gunned down at Robina on a quiet Sunday morning has been hanging over their heads since that day, April 13, 1997.
Now, with new leads in the case, the pair hope there will be closure for the “closeknit family”.
Being thrust into the limelight was “traumatic” for the family and it was difficult to find normality after the tragedy, said Ben.
“To lose the main leader of our family created a void that my mother had to fill, which she did with great strength and courage,” he said.
“I think we all scrambled as best we could but it took me a long time to deal with the way in which Dad was taken from our lives.
“This tragedy definitely sent the course of our lives in different directions and I lived with a cloud over my life for many years.”
Tania said losing her father in such a way was very hard.
“To have someone be taken so senselessly and tragically is almost impossible to comprehend,” she said.
“You always hear stories of this happening to others and think how horrible it must be to the family. No words can describe the pain and heartache, especially when there is no closure.”
Ben, who was just one month from his 18th birthday when his dad was killed, said his father was a familyoriented man and an allround “amazing guy”.
“He was constantly taking us on adventures around the Gold Coast and overseas, only wanting the best for his kids,” he said.
“Dad was an entrepreneur with a great spirit and gogetter energy to become a successful man, with the hope of being able to share the rewards with his family.”
Tania said she was not able to comment on any new leads in the police investigation but her family was being kept up-to-date with any progress.
She said as each year passed she became increasingly frustrated that someone in the community could hold the answers to what happened to her dad.
“I am sure there must be someone out there that knows something – even something small – that they may have seen or heard,” she said. “I would ask them to think how they would feel if someone dear to them was taken from them so cruelly.
“I ask them to help us with getting some closure.”