Breaking down the Lily Hooper tragedy + Why the Lindsay Clancy case matters

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (0:07)
Hi, Sacha Barbour Gatt with you, welcome to The Briefing. The Lindsay Clancy murder trial in the US has taken social media by storm, with conversations around postpartum psychosis clashing with our ideas of motherhood and the legal system.

**Ariarne Beeston** (0:20)
It basically presented with hallucinations. I saw my baby, he appeared to me as a tiny little dragon in the pram. I had difficulty making out the features of his face.
I experienced delusions. I thought that I had died. So I thought that I wasn't real, that I had never, ever existed.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (0:43)
In the second half of this episode, we unpack the case with someone who's experienced the condition herself and discuss what needs to improve when it comes to supporting the mental well-being of new mums. First though, it is time for the headlines with Chris Spyrou on Friday, the 21st of August.

**Chris Spyrou** (1:01)
Morning, Sacha. We start today with the tragic story of Lily Hooper out of New South Wales. The state's police commissioner has apologized to Lily's family who were told their missing daughter had been found alive, only to learn minutes later that she hadn't survived. The 18-year-old had gone hiking in the state's southern highlands last Wednesday, and a wide-scale search was triggered after she didn't return home and couldn't be contacted by phone. For eight days, close to 1,000 people searched for her, police, ADF members, firees, national park rangers, and hundreds of volunteers. And it was yesterday at about 11:30 a.m. that an SES rescuer located her body in thick, rugged bush.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (1:39)
That news was radioed back through the search teams on handheld radios, and in the rush of relief at finally finding her, the message that spread was that Lily had been found alive. Now it moved fast from there all the way up to State Parliament, where the Premier, Chris Minns, was sitting in a hearing when he was handed a note.

**Chris Minns** (1:59)
With respect, we've got some fantastic news, Mr. Chair. Lily Hooper has been found alive, found in the bush with half a bottle of water with her. So that's fantastic news.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (2:09)
So Lily's parents had been at that search site for eight days straight. And for a few short minutes, they too believed their daughter had made it and started to celebrate. Police say it was about eight to ten minutes later that they were told of the mistake and that Lily had died.

**Chris Minns** (2:26)
I've got some terrible news and I apologise to the committee, but it seems as if the early advice was wrong. Can we stop the clock, please? Lily's body's been found. And she's been found deceased.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (2:38)
New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon yesterday had this to say.

**Mal Lanyon** (2:43)
Tragically, that miscommunication then led to a deflation. And obviously we know now an impact on her family.
Once again, I unreservedly apologise for that miscommunication. It was something that was inadvertent, but as I said, was born out of looking to find Lily and bring her back to her family.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (3:00)
And this is just tragic, Chris. Like you can't even imagine being her family and having those things happen. And you're hearing amazing news to turn into utter devastation within minutes. And there will be a lot of questions.
Already we're hearing so many comments and concerns coming from the public about how on earth was this able to happen. And it looks like there will be, you know, there's an internal look at what happened and what processes were followed for this big mistake to happen.

**Chris Spyrou** (3:33)
Yeah. And the police commissioner was very careful not to point the finger or place blame anywhere at the moment. Yeah, to your point, I'm sure there will be an investigation and we'll hear more on this soon.
As to yesterday, Anthony Albanese and Angus Taylor did lead a moment of silence in parliament. Meantime, we do know that forensic teams are still at the scene and there's that task now of recovering Lily's body from the terrain. It is too early to know how she died or how long she'd been there. And a report is now being prepared for the coroner.

**Sacha Barbour Gatt** (4:06)
A woman who is at the centre of an alleged sexual assault involving five Sydney Swans players in Melbourne has spoken publicly for the first time. In an exclusive interview with News Corp, the exotic dancer says all she cares about is justice and she wants to stand up for what is right. No further details have been given about her identity and she wasn't able to give information about the alleged incident, but she did tell the Herald's son it left her fearing for her safety.