Family of sisters who died off Brighton beach share tragic impact of mum’s death by drowning
The three sisters found dead off Brighton beach 'never recovered' from the death of their mother, their loves ones said.
The bodies of siblings Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, were recovered from the sea on 13 May - 16 years after their mum Janice Adetoro drowned.
"It traumatised the girls," the women's aunt, Ajike Johnson, told the Daily Mail. "They never recovered."
She has now spoken out about the eerie similarities between the tragedies amid Sussex Police's ongoing investigation into the women's deaths earlier this month.
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It comes more than a decade after their mum Janice, 43, was found dead in Brookvale Lake in January 2010 a month after she went missing from the family's former home in Birmingham,
According to The Times, an inquest into the clerical worker's death held later that year recorded an open verdict, with the coroner ruling: "There was no evidence of any injury to her; she had died from drowning.
"There was no evidence that she had deliberately taken her own life. There were no suspicious circumstances."
Speaking to the Mail alongside the women's stepmother, Genevieve Barnaby-Adetoro, Ajike said: "They’d been living in the Midlands with their mum, but then moved in with their dad and Genevieve in Uxbridge afterwards. They picked up the pieces."
Genevieve rejected the idea that Jane, Christina and Rebecca could have walked into the water on purpose because of what happened to their mother.
She said: "No, no, no. It is 16 years since they lost their mother. Time diminishes pain. It is still there, but there is no way you kill yourself after 16 years because your mother died. It doesn’t happen like that."
'We’d been watching the news and had no idea it was our girls'
Ajike then added: "I pray that they’ve been being mischievous and that one of them lost their footing and the others dived in to save them.
"Don’t think we aren’t asking the questions ourselves. ‘Girls, why were you in Brighton? Did you just decide to go?’ I’ve gone over and over it."
The former social worker explained she saw a news alert flash up on her phone about the tragic events in Brighton a few weeks ago while completely unaware her nieces were involved.
"I just remember thinking, what has happened here? God bless them, and their poor families," Ajike said.
Genevieve also said: "We’d been watching the news and had no idea it was our girls. We didn’t even know they were in Brighton."
She explained the sisters devastated father, 68-year-old security guard Joseph, has been 'catatonic' since their passings. "He won’t shut his eyes, he forgets to eat," she said.
The family are unaware of why the sisters travelled to Brighton, as they only holidayed in the seaside resort on one single occasion.
Ajike said: "Was it in character for them to just take off? No. They might go walking, but not like this."
Referring to reports that suggested Jane, Christina and Rebecca might have attended a David Attenborough-themed bash at a night club to mark his 100th birthday, she went on: "The girls loved David Attenborough. They used to watch his documentaries. Did they decide to go to Brighton for that? Did they go for a paddle in the sea?
"It would have been just like them to put their bags down carefully - they all had a touch of OCD and wouldn’t have wanted them dirty - and I’ve read that the water drops away suddenly.
"Did one fall in and the others go to help, because they would have done. Where one of them went, you always found the other two."
A fundraiser has been set up by Joseph's brother, Adesoji Adetoro, to raise money for the funerals of Jane, Christina and Rebecca. At the time of writing, the GoFundMe had acquired more than £41,000 in donations.
Anyone with information can contact police online or via 101 quoting Operation Ledmore, serial 438 of 20/05.
Olivia Burke