It was a dim, chilly morning in Brighton on Wednesday, May 13, when a walker spotted a body in the sea. The waters were roiling and the winds were high; a major operation mobilised four rescue teams, three RNLI lifeboats and two helicopters. Three bodies were eventually recovered and carried ashore. Last week, those bodies were identified as sisters, all in their 30s: Jane Adetoro, the oldest, an accountant who has been described by relatives as “extremely intelligent”; her younger sister Christina Walters, who recently
graduated from Brunel University in London; and Rebecca Walters, the “baby” of the family: mischievous, lively, “always cracking jokes”. Their bereaved father, Joseph Walters, said in a heart-wrenching statement: “No words can truly describe the pain of losing three daughters in the prime of their lives. “They were my joy, my strength, and the beautiful light that filled our family with happiness and love. Each of you was unique and precious in your own special way. Your smiles brightened dark days, your laughter brought comfort,
and your presence made life more meaningful.” Sixteen years ago, the sisters’ mother, Janice, died by drowning at just 43 years old. She was last seen by one of her daughters on January 5, 2010 at their home in the suburb of Erdington. Janice was reportedly known to suffer from stress-related mental-health issues and left the house without medication, money or any of her belongings. Birmingham was experiencing a severe cold snap; before Janice’s body was found in a nearby lake, her brother issued a
plea for her safe return: “The girls are so upset and can’t stop thinking about you. For their sake, we need you to make contact.” What led Jane, Christina and Rebecca to venture into the waters off Brighton earlier this month remains unclear. Their clothed bodies were brought ashore near an unlovely car park by Brighton Marina. Police are believed to have concluded that the sisters entered the water close to where their bodies were recovered. But most swimmers — including members of the city’s
thriving swimming clubs — prefer to take a dip nearer the pier, more than a mile west of where the sisters seem to have entered the water. There is an end-of-the-world feel to the Madeira Drive area near where the sisters were found — the glitz of the city dies off; cafes and hotels are a bit of a walk away. On the day the bodies were recovered, locals in Brighton were stricken and mystified. Swimmers reported that they’d steered clear of the sea that
day, because it was clearly too rough to swim in. “We don’t know what’s happened,” a bartender told reporters. “It’s hard to get your head around.” A local business owner said he’d been spoken to by four police officers investigating the incident, and had given them all a can of Coke to fortify them after the recovery of the three bodies. “One of the officers was shaky,” he recalled. “He said in all his 23 years here, he had never seen anything like it.” One
woman, named Ingrid, who was visiting from Germany, said she couldn’t believe that anyone would have gone into the sea in such dangerous conditions. “It is terrible and so sad,” she said. A server at a local café said the news of the deaths had made her feel “a little queasy — I have friends who go out swimming”. Early reports suggested that the sisters had been at a nightclub on the beach esplanade that was hosting a student night to mark David Attenborough’s 100th
birthday. Bt , police dispelled this idea; and the sisters’ aunt, Ajike Adetoro, said she didn’t believe her nieces had been clubbing, as it wasn’t their way. “These girls would not drink alcohol or smoke,” she said. “They didn’t even have social media. They were their father’s world.” Sussex Police has appealed “for anyone who has any information that could help the investigation to come forward”. In particular, officers are seeking eyewitnesses who may have seen the women in the area of Madeira Drive after
10pm on the evening before they were found. Conspiracy theories about the deaths have coursed through social media. There was also confusion, in the days after the sisters’ identities were revealed, about a slightly uncanny photograph of them that had been released. Later, it emerged that police had been given the picture by the sisters’ relatives, who had generated it using a photograph of the women when they were years younger. Adetoro, the sisters’ aunt, explained that they didn’t have a recent picture of the
three sisters together: “We just wanted AI to put it together and make it look good, all three of them together.” She called for an end to the conspiracy theories, including one claiming that the sisters had been killed in some kind of “racist attack”. The sisters had “prided themselves”, she said, “on being the exception to the rule in not being wild… because that’s the way their mum would have wanted them to have turned out”. Jane, Christina and Rebecca were, she added, “best
friends who did everything together”: “They were happy girls. They’d moved out of their dad’s house two years ago, but would message at least twice a day.” Their deaths, she said, came as “earth-shattering” news; they were “totally unexpected”. Drownings in the waters off Brighton are, unfortunately, not unheard of. In January, a 51-year-old man died after getting into difficulty in the sea to the west of Brighton Palace Pier. The area where the sisters are thought to have gone into the water is notoriously
dangerous. A sea wall juts out into the water, and this has the effect of keeping Brighton Marina relatively tranquil, but on the other side – where the sisters may have gone in – the water can become dangerously unsettled. The spring tides last week were so strong that they may have formed a ledge of stones underwater that could have fallen away suddenly, a local bartender noted. “There’s a shelf in the sea which we all know that if you walk in, you can
suddenly get deep very quickly. Maybe someone fell down into the deep water and others helped.” One swimmer said he had experienced the power of the waters in that part of the beach. “The tides and undertow are very strong at times,” he wrote. “I was a strong swimmer, but got caught coming back to the shore in that area. It took everything. I seemed to make no progress despite swimming as hard as I could.” This week, a campaign was launched by the sisters’
uncle, Adesoji Adetoro, on GoFundMe to raise money for the women’s funerals. As of Friday afternoon, it had raised nearly £35,000 – far surpassing its original goal of £18,000. Joseph, the sisters’ father, is said to be being supported at home by his wider family. In Brighton, the business owner who gave the investigating police officers Cokes said his thoughts were with the sisters’ relatives. “I feel sorry for their families. Imagine their parents getting this news.” The sisters’ uncle asked on social media that
people keep the family in their prayers “during the darkest time of our lives”. Their loss, he said, had “left a pain and emptiness in our hearts that words cannot describe. No parent should ever have to bury their child, let alone all three”.
Brighton, Madeira Drive, RNLI, Sussex Police, drowning, three sisters, Jane Adetoro, Christina Walters, Rebecca Walters, Joseph Walters, Ajike Adetoro, Adesoji Adetoro, GoFundMe