Three sisters, Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, who drowned in the sea in Brighton, died by suicide, a coroner’s report has stated.
The circumstances of their deaths mirrored that of their mother, Janice Adetoro, who also drowned in 2010.
The report, which found no trace of violence in the deaths of the siblings, established that a search of Ms Christina’s computer showed 179 references to suicide and 227 references to water. The coroner further established that Ms Christina had suffered from depression and anxiety since her mother died.
“On May 13, in hours of darkness, they entered the sea at Brighton, they could not swim and sea conditions were adverse,” senior coroner Penelope Schofield told Woodvale Coroner’s Court, according to Sky News.
The three women, who lived together in Greenford, London, boarded a taxi to Birmingham and visited an area where their mother reportedly died in 2010.
They took a taxi together to Brighton, where they were last seen alive at around 2:00 a.m.
“These three sisters lived very secluded lives, they were incredibly private, we don’t know why they took this course of action or indeed why they chose to do it in Brighton,” the coroner told the court. “It is not for the court to speculate and sadly these reasons may never be known.”
The autopsy found no traces of alcohol or drugs in their systems.
Their mother, Ms Janice, drowned at sea at the age of 43. Police recovered her body from the sea one month after she went missing.
Their father, Joseph Jacobson, who joined the hearing virtually, said he was heartbroken over the loss of his three daughters in a written statement.
“There are no words that can adequately express the pain of losing a child,” Mr Jacobson wrote. “To lose all three of my precious daughters, Jane, Christina and Rebecca, is a heartbreak beyond anything I could ever have imagined.”
He added: “You were my daughters, you will always be my daughters and I will love you for the rest of my life. May your beautiful souls rest in perfect peace.”