By HARRY CLARKE | EXCLUSIVE
THE heartbroken former partner of Rachel McCrow, one of two young constables murdered this week by gunmen on an secluded property at Wieambilla, has spoken of her determination to become a police officer while describing her as “a beautiful person”.
Luke travelled from Brisbane Thursday to lay flowers outside Tara Police Station, where Rachel had recently taken up her first permanent posting as an officer.
He broke down in tears as he knelt beside floral tributes which had been laid throughout the week by Tara residents.
Police officers from Ipswich, who were caretaking at the station, were there to support, offering him a seat inside the building.
Luke told the Caller he and Rachel went to high school together in Brisbane’s north but it was several years later that their relationship blossomed.
“It’s horrible mate. It’s just rocked me,” he said.
“I’m absolutely shattered and I don’t just speak for myself but I speak for everyone because Rachel was just a beautiful person.
“You can’t take that away from her and she just didn’t deserve this at all.
“She was always there to listen, always there to have fun – just a really kind soul and just her as an overall person I think’s hard to come by.
“We had a really deep connection and both loved each other deeply. It didn’t end up how we wanted in the end but we still stayed friends.
“She’d do anything for you. She loved her dog, Archie, she’d do anything for him.
“I’m just really appreciative of the time we got to spend together.”
Luke said Rachel always wanted to become an officer and studied criminology before attending the Queensland Police Service Academy in Townsville.
“She wanted to be a policewoman for so long. She tried to get in during Covid and it was just due to Covid that things were pushed back, but there was no stopping her. That’s what she wanted to do and that’s what she got into.”
Asked whether he was proud of his former partner, Luke said: “I couldn’t not be 110 percent proud of her”.
