The family of three sisters found dead in the sea at Brighton have spoken of their heartbreaking loss, which echoes the death of their mother 16 years ago. Ajike Johnson, the sisters' aunt, said she saw news reports of three women recovered from the sea, unaware they were her nieces.
Emergency services were called to Brighton beach on 13 May after a person was spotted in the water near Madeira Drive at around 5.45am. The bodies of Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walter, 32, and Rebecca Walter, 31, were later recovered.
Their mother, Janice Adetoro, died in 2010 after walking into a lake in Birmingham. Her body was not recovered for several months due to weather conditions. Ms Johnson said her death 'traumatised the girls' and they 'never recovered'.
The sisters' father, Joseph, has struggled to eat or sleep since the news. 'They are his babies,' Ms Johnson said. 'He is a softie anyway. My brother is a teddy bear, but when it comes to his girls... He has been catatonic.'
It is unclear why the women, from Uxbridge, were in Brighton. The only family connection was a holiday. Genevieve Barnaby-Adetoro, their stepmother, said police phoned Joseph and then visited to deliver the news. She said she was certain the sisters had not deliberately walked into the water like their mother.
Police said there is no evidence of third-party involvement or criminality. They have reviewed hundreds of hours of CCTV and are urging anyone who saw the women near Madeira Drive between 10pm on 12 May and 5.30am on 13 May to contact them via 101, quoting Operation Ledmore.
