Three Sisters Died by Suicide at Same Spot Where Their Mother Drowned 16 years Earlier

A UK coroner has ruled that three British-Nigerian sisters took their own lives by walking into the sea off Brighton beach, in a tragedy that has left their father heartbroken and investigators baffled.

Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, were recovered from the water near Madeira Drive in the early hours of May 13, 2026, after emergency services were called at about 5:45 a.m.

The sisters, who lived together in Greenford, west London, had led “very secluded lives” following the death of their mother Janice Adetoro, who also died by drowning in Birmingham in 2010.

Senior Coroner Penelope Schofield told Woodvale Coroner’s Court that the women entered the sea in darkness despite being unable to swim and facing adverse conditions.

The inquest heard that two days before their deaths, the sisters travelled by taxi to Birmingham and were dropped off at Linton Walk, near Brookvale Park Lake, where their mother had lived and died. They arrived at 11:36 p.m. on May 11 and were picked up to return to London at 1:28 a.m. on May 12.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore told the court there was no CCTV footage to show what the women did during their nearly two hours at the Birmingham location.

On the evening of May 12, the sisters took a pre-booked taxi to Brighton, arriving near the seafront at 10:21 p.m. CCTV footage captured them walking along the beach in the darkness, and they were last seen alive at 2:42 a.m.

The Uber driver reportedly noted the lack of conversation during the journey.

Jane Adetoro was brought to shore by an RNLI crew and declared dead at the scene. Christina Walters was recovered from the sea by an RNLI lifeboat, while Rebecca Walters was washed ashore on Brighton beach. All three were pronounced dead that morning.

Post-mortem examinations confirmed all three women died from drowning, with no traces of drugs or alcohol and no evidence of violence or third-party involvement.

The inquest heard that Christina Walters had suffered from anxiety and depression since her mother’s death, and police found “extensive searches” about suicide on her electronic devices in the month before she died. Jane Adetoro was not registered with a doctor, and Rebecca Walters’s medical records had nothing of note.

Financial inquiries revealed the sisters had cleared some of their bank accounts in the days leading up to their deaths, and Jane had paid off a loan in full on May 11.

Schofield told the court: “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. It is not for the court to speculate and sadly these reasons may never be known”.

The sisters’ father Joseph Jacobson, who attended the inquest by videolink, said in a written statement: “There are no words that can adequately express the pain of losing a child. 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”.

Earlier, in a tribute issued through Sussex Police, Jacobson had described his daughters as “my joy, my strength, and the beautiful light that filled our family with happiness and love”.

The family previously condemned online conspiracy theories surrounding the deaths, which were fuelled after Sussex Police released an AI-generated image of the sisters because the family did not have a recent photograph of them together. The force later withdrew the image.

The sisters’ aunt, Ajike Adetoro, told The Times: “The most disturbing part for us is the conspiracies. We’ve heard people jump to conclusions that it was a racist attack, a murder, that they were clubbing… It is all wrong. These girls would not drink alcohol or smoke. They never went clubbing. They didn’t even have social media”.

A GoFundMe page set up to help with funeral costs raised almost £45,000, with the family saying they wanted to “give the girls the loving and dignified farewell they deserve”.