A coroner has determined that three Nigerian sisters who were found dead in the sea off Brighton, UK, committed suicide.
According to senior coroner Penelope Schofield, Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, had been leading “very secluded lives” after their mother drowned in 2010.
The sisters, who had been living together in Greenford, London, visited a part of Birmingham near their mother’s death on May 11. The following day, they traveled to Brighton Beach, where they perished in unfavorable sea conditions early on May 13. According to the coroner, they were unable to swim.
Their father Joseph Jacobsen said it was heartbreaking to lose “all three of my precious daughters”.
Paying tribute to his daughters, their father, Joseph Jacobson, who attended the Brighton inquest via videolink, said in a written statement:
“To lose all three of my precious daughters, Jane, Christina and Rebecca, is a heartbreak beyond anything I could ever have imagined.
“May your beautiful souls rest in perfect peace.”
He added that he hoped his daughters were reunited with their mother “in God’s eternal care” because he could not comprehend why their lives ended so abruptly.
“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. “These three sisters lived very secluded lives, they were incredibly private.”