Three sisters whose bodies were recovered from the sea off Brighton beach have been named, and here is everything we know so far as police investigate their deaths. Emergency services were called after concerns were raised for a person’s welfare at around 5:45 a.m. on May 13, before three bodies were pulled from the water near Madeira Drive.
Victims Identified
The women have now been named a week later by Sussex Police as Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, from the Uxbridge area of London. Investigators say they are still working hard to gather evidence as to how they died. The father of the three women, Joseph, paid tribute to his daughters “whose lives ended so tragically far too soon.”
Emergency Response
Emergency services were at the sea front and on the shingle beach during the morning on May 13, where a lifeboat was seen out at sea and a helicopter was flying overhead. The sea appeared choppy, with waves crashing against the marina wall.
Police Investigation
Sussex Police have said there is no evidence to suggest criminality or that anyone else was involved, but specialist detectives are working to gather the full facts and circumstances around their deaths. Hundreds of hours of CCTV footage have been reviewed, and inquiries have been made to businesses and properties around the beach area to try to track the women’s last movements, the force said. Anyone with information is asked to come forward, particularly anyone who saw the sisters around the Madeira Drive area between 10 p.m. on May 12 and 5:30 a.m. on May 13.
Chief Superintendent Adam Hays said the force “will leave no stone unturned” in the investigation to understand what led to the “tragic events of that Wednesday morning.”
Local Concerns
Locals in Brighton fear the women may have been swept away from the shore after paddling out to sea and falling off a coastal shelf into deeper water. They have told how the seabed falls away dramatically not far from the beach, and the shingle shelf can make paddling too far out dangerous.
