General

A dingo took her baby, coroner rules

An Australian coroner decided on Tuesday a dingo indeed took baby Azaria from a campsite, just like her mother had been saying since 1980. The decision is probably the final word in a case that has been embedded in Australians’ minds since Azaria’s mother, Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, cried out “the dingo’s got my baby” when her daughter went missing from her tent next to Ayers’ Rock, now known as Uluru.

Chamberlain-Creighton had been previously convicted of murdering Azaria, served three years in jail, only to be later cleared of any wrongdoing, while always maintaining that a dingo had taken the baby from the tent.

The latest decision is the result of a fourth coroner’s inquest into the case, which was also investigated in the murder trial against Chamberlain-Creighton and her husband at the time, Michael Chamberlain, as well as by a royal inquiry commission. This time, the coroner’s inquest sought to clarify that a dingo had indeed taken the baby; as Azaria’s body had never been found, her official cause of death remained as “unknown” until now. The coroner ruled that “the cause of her death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo.”

In a press scrum outside the coroner’s office in Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, Chamberlain-Creighton and her husband seemed finally vindicated, according to Australia’s ABC. “No longer will Australians be able to say that dingoes are not dangerous, and that they only attack if provoked,” she said.

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
FILED UNDER: