For a week, they were a haunting mystery: three women pulled from the cold Atlantic waters beneath the chalk cliffs of a renowned seaside resort, their lives reduced to a tragic headline.
Now, they have their names back.
Sussex Police have formally identified the three women recovered from the ocean near Brighton’s popular tourist beach as sisters: 36-year-old Jane Adetoro, 32-year-old Christina Walter, and 31-year-old Rebecca Walter. The confirmation comes exactly seven days after a grim discovery shocked this coastal community in the early hours of May 13.
As a massive police investigation continues to piece together the final hours of the London siblings, their devastated father, Joseph, has broken his silence, releasing a deeply moving tribute to the daughters he lost all at once.
“No words can truly describe the pain of losing three daughters in the prime of their lives,” Joseph said in a statement released through authorities. “Jane, Christina, and Becky were more than daughters to me; they were my joy, my strength, and the beautiful light that filled our family with happiness and love.”
A Dawn Discovery
The tragedy unfolded at approximately 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday, May 13, when emergency services were scrambled to the beach near the Black Rock parking lot, just off Brighton’s prominent Madeira Drive. There, in the gray dawn, rescuers recovered the three bodies from the surf.
According to Scotland Yard and local authorities, the sisters had traveled to the coast from their home in the Uxbridge area of West London. Specialist family liaison officers are currently supporting their next of kin as they navigate an unimaginable grief.
While the investigation remains intensely active, police have attempted to quiet local speculation, confirming that “at this time, there is no evidence to suggest third-party involvement or criminality.”
However, determining exactly how the sisters entered the water remains a monumental task.
“Specialist detectives are working hard to gather the full facts and circumstances of their deaths,” Sussex Police stated. To reconstruct the timeline, a dedicated task force has already reviewed hundreds of hours of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and conducted exhaustive door-to-door inquiries at hotels, restaurants, and businesses lining the Brighton beachfront. Investigators are working across jurisdictions, coordinates with partners in both Brighton and London, and are pleading with anyone who may have seen the women to step forward.
“An Emptiness That Words Cannot Heal”
For Joseph, the logistics of the police investigation pale in comparison to the sudden, staggering silence left in his daughters’ wake. In his eulogy, he remembered three distinct women, each leaving behind a unique void.
“Jane, your strength and loving spirit will never be forgotten,” the grieving father wrote. “Christina, your kindness and beautiful heart touched so many lives. Becky, your warmth and joyful soul brought happiness wherever you went.”
He spoke of the agonizing weight of a grief that now defines his daily existence.
“The tragedy of losing all three of you has left an emptiness that words cannot heal,” Joseph said. “There are days when the grief feels unbearable, yet I hold tightly to the memories we shared—the laughter, the conversations, the love, and the bond that death can never take away. Rest peacefully, my precious daughters… You may be gone from our sight, but never from our hearts.”
A Community in Mourning
The shockwave of the tragedy has extended far beyond the family home in Uxbridge and the pebbled shores of Brighton.
Chief Superintendent Adam Hays, Divisional Commander for Brighton and Hove, expressed the profound sorrow felt across the force and the wider public, describing the loss as nothing short of “devastating.”
“I know this incident has had a profound impact on the local community in Brighton, and across the country,” Chief Superintendent Hays said. “I’d like to reassure the public we will leave no stone unturned in our investigation to understand exactly what led to the tragic events of that Wednesday morning.”
Hays emphasized that the family would remain at the absolute center of the ongoing inquiry, while issuing a stern plea for the public and media to grant them the space they desperately need. “I would ask that they are given the privacy to come to terms with this terrible tragedy,” he concluded.
Sussex Police have stated they have no further updates at this stage, as detectives continue the meticulous work of tracing the final steps of three sisters whose lives ended, inextricably bound together, by the sea.