THEY shared a “happy” sisterly bond – swapping gossip, trading secrets and doing everything together.
So it is little wonder the mysterious deaths of siblings Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, in the sea off Brighton left grieving loved ones desperate for answers.
Sisters Jane, Christina and Rebecca in a portrait created by the family as a tribute using an AI app Credit: Enterprise
Loving dad Joseph with the girls when they were growing up Credit: PA
Almost ten weeks after the trio perished in sea temperatures of 12C, questions remain over WHY the women would risk venturing into the English Channel sometime before 5.30am on a cloudy morning in May.
The Jattvibe has established the last witnesses to see the sisters alive told police they were still at the flat they shared in West London — a two-hour trip from the scene of the tragedy — at around 9pm the night before.
We have also learned that the siblings had obsessive compulsive disorder.
Neighbours tell how one of the women constantly applied hand sanitiser and used tissues to press elevator buttons in their block.
They described the sisters as elusive and said they appeared to rely on once-a-week supermarket deliveries.
One added: “It’s really tragic what happened to them.”
Jane, Christina and Rebecca’s bodies were recovered from the sea fully clothed and wearing their shoes, on May 13.
Police say they do not suspect foul play, but a preliminary inquest heard that their cause of death was “yet to be ascertained” after an initial post mortem.
It is not known what took the women on their fateful trip to Brighton, where relatives said they once enjoyed a childhood holiday.
But their aunt, Ajike Adetoro, wonders if they went there for an event to celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday.
She said: “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 to get 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.”
The women’s deaths on May 13 sparked a slew of online conspiracy theories — and “armchair detectives” only speculated further when it emerged their mum, Janice Adetoro, had drowned aged 43.
She had split from their father and suffered mental health issues before walking into a lake at a park near their home in Erdington, Birmingham, in January 2010.
It took weeks to retrieve her body because of snowy weather conditions.
The sisters, who were aged 20, 16 and 15 at the time, later went to live with their dad, Joseph Adetero, and his new partner Genevieve Barnaby-Adetoro, in Uxbridge, west London.
They were naturally devastated by their loss.
Joseph’s brother Soji Adetoro said: “As a family, we are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.
The girls had so much life ahead of them and their loss has left a pain and emptiness in our hearts that words can not describe.”
Black Rock Beach on Brighton seafront where the tragic sisters were found Credit: Getty
Flowers left on the railings at Black Rock Beach on Brighton seafront Credit: Chris Eades
In an online post, he added: “No parent should have to bury their child.”
Perhaps unusually for sisters in their 30s, the women shared a flat in a high-rise block in Greenford, West London, and all three had professional jobs.
Jane was a senior accountant, Christina a junior accountant and Rebecca an HR administrator.
Unlike most single women of their age, they resisted the lure of social media, did not smoke or drink and, according to family, never went out clubbing.
Online activity suggests that relatives are committed Christians and it is believed the three were also keen church-goers.
The siblings moved out of their father’s home two years ago and, while family insist they were not reclusive, neighbours said they very rarely saw them.
In a residents’ WhatsApp chat seen by The Jattvibe, a local said they had come across one of the trio several times and had seen her on the second floor.
On a few mornings, they shared an elevator and the resident noticed the woman regularly used a tissue to press the buttons and to exit the block.
She was also seen applying hand sanitiser on several occasions.
“I initially assumed she may simply have been very conscious about germs or cleanliness,” the neighbour wrote.
They said that on most Fridays at around 9am, a Tesco or Sainsbury’s delivery would arrive at the sisters’ flat.
The women were last seen by the neighbour around 8.50pm the night before they died.
Tragic mum Janice, who had mental health issues, drowned in 2010 Credit: BPM
Police stand on the beach at Black Rock where the bodies were foundCredit: Refer to source
They said of one sibling: “I recognised her immediately because she took sanitiser out of her bag and used it, which reminded me of previous times I had seen her in the lift.
“The three women then walked together towards the bus stop near the BP garage. They appeared calm, kept to themselves and were smiling amongst each other.”
The neighbour said she had shared her observations with police.
Meanwhile, the siblings’ aunt, Ajike Adetoro, of Failsworth, Manchester, said the family were “not speculating” about what happened, but added: “The girls were totally happy in the weeks and months before it happened and it was totally unexpected.”
She told The Times that the trio were “the closest sisters and best friends who did everything together”.
“They were happy girls. They’d moved out of their dad’s house two years ago and would message at least twice a day,” she revealed.
But those texts stopped on May 13 when Jane, Christina and Rebecca, who were believed to be staying at a local guest house, were found dead off Black Rock beach, near Brighton Marina.
Unfounded online conspiracy theories erupted, including that they had been murdered, fallen victim to a racist attack or were asylum seekers who had tumbled off a boat.
There were even twisted suggestions that black women were being deliberately drowned.
Speculation escalated when it emerged that relatives had used artificial intelligence to create an image of the sisters together — a soft studio portrait which showed off their striking features.
Trolls theorised that there was “something strange going on”, but the reason was far simpler.
Their family did not have a recent snap of all three together so used digital technology to create one, believing it could help cops piece together Jane, Christina and Rebecca’s final hours.
Sussex Police later released an image of the women as teenagers with their dad and the family begged people to stop guessing how they died.
Their aunt said of the controversial photo: “We just wanted AI to put it together and make it look good, all three of them together.
“The most disturbing part for us is the conspiracies. We’ve heard people jump to conclusions that this was a rascist attack, a murder, that they were clubbing — the most absurd messages. It is all wrong.
“These girls did not drink alcohol or smoke. They never went clubbing. They didn’t even have social media. They were their father’s world.”
Dad Joseph, a 68-year-old security guard, was “catatonic” at his loss, according to family.
Their younger step-sister Lilly, 25, who lives in Texas, US, was also left inconsolable.
At their funeral in North West London, Lilly heartbreakingly wrote in the order of service: “We were four, and now I am one.”
Their dad’s tribute added: “No words can truly describe the pain of losing three daughters in the prime of their lives.
“There are moments when it feels unbearable, but I hold tightly to the memories we shared, the love we knew and the bond that nothing can ever take away.”
Remembering his daughters in turn, he said: “Jane, I will never forget your strength, Tina, your kindness touched so many lives. Becky, your warmth and joyful spirit brought happiness wherever you went.
“Though I can no longer see you, I carry you in my heart every day.”
A Sussex police spokesperson said the force carried out a thorough probe into the deaths on behalf of the coroner.
But they added: “This was not a criminal investigation.” However, the women’s aunt revealed that while their mother’s death “traumatised” them, they had “picked up the pieces”.
She added: “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.”
A coastguard source said of the spot where the siblings perished: “The shoreline slopes sharply into deep water and people can find themselves going from knee-deep to chest-deep within seconds.”
The full inquest into the sisters’ deaths will be heard in October and, while the outcome will not diminish the pain around their loss, the family hope it will finally give them answers.
In an interview shortly after their deaths Ajike said: “People have come up with their own explanations of what has happened.
“I read things like, ‘Oh, they are blacks, maybe they fell off a boat’, or ‘three less hijabs’. I’ve read things that have made me cry.
“People are heartless. Some are saying, ‘We MUST know. We must have answers’.
“Hold on a minute. We are their family, and we don’t have answers.”
