Sad News: Gold Coast baby spent last afternoon of her life playing in the sun with her mum

The nine-month-old baby girl whose body was found on a Gold Coast beach spent her last afternoon with her mum playing happily in the sun. 

The baby and mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were seen by passers-by sitting on a hill by Jake Evans Boat Harbour in Tweed Heads happily enjoying each other's company just hours before she died. Her body later washed up on the shore at Surfers Paradise.

According to the Daily Mail, a witness saw the mother and daughter sitting together for hours, on the same day she was killed.

'I watched her play with that baby all afternoon, she loved that baby,' a woman called Robin told the publication.

'She was kissing it, the baby was bouncing up and down, reaching up to grab her face.

'That was her last afternoon in the sun.'   

Onlookers say the pair looked so happy to be in each other's company, and the mum was delighted to play with the little girl,

Her father has now been charged with her murder. Police allege he told his girlfriend that he was taking the little girl to an elder, but he threw her into a waterway and she drowned. Her body later washed up at Surfers Paradise.

The 23-year-old mother and her 47-year-old partner had been living rough with their two kids. A two-year-old boy who is believed to be "healthy" and has been taken into care. The family were living rough in shelters, and most recently, a 'humpy' - which is a teepee-like shelter constructed of branches. 

The mother, who was arrested after her daughter's body was found, has been released from police custody without charge and placed into the care of Queensland mental health services.

Both parents were initially arrested, and police pressed murder charges against the father and he was extradited to NSW.