Father and son found dead in home; community mourns
Noah was known for his love of rugby and was a member of the Yamba Buccaneers Rugby Club.
“The Yamba Buccaneers Rugby Club is devastated by the tragic death of Noah and our condolences go out to his family, friends and former team-mates at this difficult time,” said Club President Adrian Miller.
“Noah has found his sporting place in rugby union and was a valuable member of our U12 team that won the Premier League in 2019.
“A reserved, quiet kid, Noah was well respected by other players and his coaches and was known for always having a blast and doing what he could for the team.”
Miller said support has been offered to those affected and tributes will be given at Friday’s junior games and Saturday’s senior games.
Cribb said a tragedy like this often hit small communities harder as police continued to provide support.
“We always find that it has a bigger impact in the smaller communities because everyone knows everyone,” he said.
“I actually have my own police force that the family knows. I have children of police officers who went to the same school.”
The family was being cared for by police and Cribb said some of his officers spoke to them earlier Friday.
“We took care of them, we have as much welfare as possible. We have police chaplains up there and our social welfare experts,” Cribb said.
Neighbors said Smith worked as an officer for the port of Yamba and Noah lived with him in the Kookaburra Court house.
The family was well known in the Yamba community and a neighbor said she was shocked by the news.
The neighbor, who asked not to be named, also said the father and son used to ride motocross together and she often saw them on the street.
“It’s just a terrible situation,” she said.
Another neighbor confirmed that Smith worked as a port service employee, piloting ships at sea there.
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