A grieving husband and father hoping to bury his wife and two children after they plunged to their deaths from a South Australian cliff in a suspected murder-self-harm is facing an agonising predicament over their funerals.

Estonian-born Helena Wright and her two children, 23-month-old Hazel and three-month-old Lewis, died on July 27 after they plunged from Cape Northumberland into perilous waters.

Ms Wright and Hazel’s bodies were retrieved by traumatised volunteer first responders – understood to be local fishermen – that same day, but Lewis’s body has not been recovered.

Police on Wednesday officially called off the search for the baby boy, citing ‘the grim reality that he may never be found’.

Now, Ms Wright’s husband Brad, a Mt Gambier electrician and devout Christian, is understood to be struggling to plan three funerals, with his wife and daughter’s bodies tied up in a coronial investigation and little prospect of having any remains of his infant son to bury.

A source close to the family said a GoFundMe has raised enough money for Ms Wright’s family to travel to Mt Gambier in the state’s south-east from Estonia for a funeral – but they now face a painful wait for the 36-year-old and Hazel’s bodies to be released to Mr Wright.

It can also be revealed that South Australia Police have launched an internal investigation into the tragedy after Ms Wright reportedly attended Mt Gambier police station seeking help the day before her death, only to be told to return the following day.

More than two weeks on from the tragedy, police still refuse to reveal why Ms Wright visited the station, and why she did not receive help on that Sunday.

Why Coroner Has Yet to Release Mother and Daughter

‘A review of police actions is underway following the incident and that police are preparing a mandatory report for the Coroner,’ said a SAPOL spokesperson.

‘There are two concurrent processes: an internal police review of SAPOL’s response and the coronial investigation into the causes and circumstances of the deaths.’

While coroners are usually quick to release bodies to their loved ones, a widely respected top cop told the Daily Mail that it’s not uncommon for them to hold human remains for several weeks in complex investigations.

‘They have to be absolutely sure [of their findings], because once they release the body, there’s no going back,’ said former Victoria Police homicide detective Charlie Bezzina.

‘As a rule, the coroner’s court are very mindful about the family being able to get on with the proceedings in relation to laying their loved ones to rest, so there’s got to be something significant in relation to why they’re holding on to the bodies.’

In the case of Ms Wright and Hazel, he said the coroner would be reviewing their injuries to confirm they were inflicted by the rocky base of Cape Northumberland – near Port MacDonnell – and rule out that they were from ‘some other means prior to her jumping off the cliff’.

‘The amount of trauma… is it discernible in relation to the rocks or an assault? The coroner would be going through everything,’ he said.

Police have previously said they do not suspect any other person in relation to Ms Wright and her kids’ deaths.

Coroner Faces Heartbreaking Questions Over Cliff Tragedy

Still, the coroner faces the heartbreaking task of identifying ‘each particular injury’, which Mr Bezzina said would likely include ‘fractures of the bones and skulls and bruising’ as heavy swells on the day of their fatal plunge battered them against the rocks.

In the case of missing Lewis, Mr Wright now faces a wait over whether the coroner will accept that he has died, based on police evidence.

While police investigators believe the trio died by Ms Wright’s hand, the coroner may still need to ask tough questions of her loved ones.

‘They could just sit in their office and read all the statements and the evidence that police have gleaned and make a finding based on that. Or, given that this is so high profile, they may roll the arm over tell the police that out so many witnesses, they want to interview some of them,’ Mr Bezzina said.

‘It’s a matter of playing devil’s advocate, especially in domestic situations such as this.’

He said the coroner would be asking why she would want to take her own life, and kill her children.

‘They need to find out her state of mind. Was she depressed? Was she getting treatment? Was she on medication, which will come up in the toxicology.

‘They need to build up this picture as to why this lady went to the drastic result of jumping off a cliff with her two children. All the background of her domestic life will need to be looked at, all the family, all the associates.

Police Face Major Probe After Woman Turned Away

He said the internal police investigation over why Ms Wright was turned away from the Mt Gambier police station on July 26 would be ‘major’, adding that their refusal to comment on why she was there may be to ‘protect the SAPOL brand’.

‘It may be that she’s gone there for help and been rejected because they were short-staffed, but that could have been a catalyst [for her] to say “Oh, sh*t, that was my last hope. And now I’ve been told to go away….” and bang, away we’ve gone,’ he said.

‘That will be so significant to a coronial inquiry, and adds more pressure on police with this aspect of [Ms Wright] going to the police station [before she died].’

Mr Bezzina said, ‘Police stations should be a safe haven that you can run to or drive to, and if they’re closed, you’re in diabolical problems’.

In a recent interview with an Adelaide radio station, SAPOL chief commissioner Grant Stevens said, ‘I’m not saying we did anything wrong, but we’re obligated to make sure we got it right’.

He added that police would not wait for the outcome of an inquest to adopt changes if their investigation identified problems.

‘With all incidents like this we review our actions to ensure that we are doing what we can to best serve the community,’ Commissioner Stevens said.

‘Coronial inquests can take years … and if that’s the case we don’t want to wait that long before we make changes within South Australia Police, if there are changes that should be made.’

Grieving Husband Breaks Silence After Unfathomable Loss

On Monday, Ms Wright’s husband Brad returned to social media for the first time since his unfathomable loss when he responded to a Facebook post by his local federal MP.

Liberal Barker MP Tony Pasin shared a link to a GoFundMe created by a friend on behalf of the Wrights, and confirmed he had personally donated $200.

Among the handful of comments on Mr Pasin’s post was one from a profile with the handle ‘Bee Dubs’, which the Mail has independently verified belongs to Mr Wright.

‘Thank you, Tony. I appreciate you sharing this,’ Mr Wright commented.

The fundraiser has so far raised almost $40,000.