Three sisters who drowned at Brighton Beach had visited the lake where their mother died just two days before the tragedy.

Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, were found dead in the early hours of May 13—16 years after their mother also drowned.

The circumstances surrounding the sisters’ deaths remain unclear, but their cousin Natalie Walters-Daniel, 33, believes their return to the lake where their mother died may have held a “deeper meaning”.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, she said the sisters—who were 20, 16 and 15 when their mother, Janice Adetoro, died—had never truly recovered from the loss.

Janice drowned near the family’s home in Birmingham in 2010.

Ms Walters-Daniel said: “To lose their mum at the ages they were, it was during those crucial stages of growing up and becoming young women.

“Those were the years when a mother’s presence, guidance, reassurance and love should have been there, but they didn’t receive that.

“For them to return to Birmingham, spend that time at the lake and see their mother, I think there is definitely a connection there.”

Janice had been living with one of her daughters and was last seen by her before she disappeared, prompting her distressed family to issue an appeal for information.

She had been suffering from stress-related mental health issues and did not have any medication with her when she disappeared.

Her brother Lincoln said at the time: “The girls are so upset and can’t stop thinking about you. For their sake, we need you to make contact.”

Janice disappeared in January 2010, before her body was found in early February.

An inquest heard that she had gone to a police station earlier that year displaying “paranoid delusions”.

The sisters later moved back to London, where neighbours described them as extremely private and unsociable. Their food shopping was delivered once a week.

Jane was a senior accountant, Christina worked as a junior accountant and Rebecca was an HR administrator.

Sussex Police have now concluded their investigation into the sisters’ deaths, saying officers found no evidence of a crime or third-party involvement.

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Ms Walters-Daniel said: “We are not going to get the full answers to this.”

She said an inquest scheduled for next month could provide some insight into the tragedy.

Their father Joseph previously spoke of his devastation at losing all three of his daughters, saying ‘no words can truly describe the pain’ in a heartbreaking tribute reported by the BBC.

‘You were more than my daughters: you were my joy, my strength and the beautiful light that filled my life with love,’ he wrote in the order of service.

‘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.

‘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.’

Joseph’s wife Genevieve Barnaby described the sisters as ‘the most beautiful girls [who] didn’t give us no trouble’.

Paying tribute to her stepchildren, she wrote: ‘Our hearts are broken. The pain is indescribable.’

Their cousin told mourners at the funeral that their ‘lives will never be forgotten’ and their ‘memory will live on forever’.

A GoFundMe page launched by their uncle has since raised more than £45,000 towards funeral costs.

The page reads: ‘No parent should ever have to bury their child, let alone all three.

‘While trying to process this unimaginable tragedy, my brother is now also faced with the heartbreaking task of arranging three funerals.

‘As a family, we simply want to give the girls the loving and dignified farewell they deserve.

‘We are humbly asking for any support you may be able to offer towards the funeral expenses.

‘Any contribution, no matter how small, will help ease the burden on the family during this incredibly difficult time.’

Pip Edwards and her new partner, Nicholas Nogarotto, made a stylish impression on Saturday when they attended Surf to Turf Day at Sydney’s Royal Randwick in coordinated black-and-white looks.

The fashionable couple arrived together for the high-profile event, sharing a warm and affectionate moment that added to their growing reputation as one of Sydney’s most talked-about new power couples.

The 46-year-old designer drew attention in a bold avant-garde outfit, pairing a sleeveless, high-neck white tunic with an eye-catching skirt covered in layers of flowing cream and white feathers.

Pip completed the fashion-forward look with a black, wide-brimmed boater hat and dark sunglasses, while her honey-blonde hair fell around her face in relaxed waves.

Her beauty look was kept polished yet understated, with a bronzed complexion and a soft neutral shade on her lips.

A structured black Chanel handbag added a luxury finish, with Pip giving the classic accessory a colourful update by tying a blue, yellow and white silk scarf around its handle.

She brought bold colour into the ensemble with pointed heels featuring geometric blocks of royal blue, white, black and red, then added a streamlined metal watch and fine rings.

Nicholas, meanwhile, matched the occasion’s polished mood in the sharp attire of a well-dressed corporate adviser.

The Freshwater Strategy director wore a tailored navy pinstripe suit with a crisp white shirt and textured grey tie, completing the look with highly polished black dress shoes.

Their latest public appearance follows months of romance speculation and a series of high-profile outings, including their appearance at Australian Fashion Week and a getaway to Tasmania, where they visited MONA.

Standing together against Randwick’s leafy surrounds, the couple appeared to be enjoying their moment in the spotlight while balancing Pip’s design career with Nicholas’s corporate commitments.

Reports in May claimed Pip was deeply in love, with her new relationship quickly becoming a major talking point during Australian Fashion Week.

The designer attended the Carla Zampatti runway show with Nicholas by her side.

People close to the pair have reportedly said Pip is thoroughly smitten with her new partner.

‘The relationship is going strong,’ an insider told the Daily Telegraph.

Their chemistry was evident, as the couple cuddled up together on the red carpet.

Pip was warmly nuzzling her man as they posed for photos, looking blissfully in love.

Earlier this year, the social media star made her relationship with Nicholas Instagram official.

The designer holidayed with her beau in Tasmania and took to Instagram to share a photo of herself and Nicholas exploring the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart.

Pip and Nicholas’ romantic holiday came just days after the mother-of-one spoke for the first time about her new relationship in an interview with the Daily Mail.

‘I’m very happy,’ she said when quizzed on how things were going with Nicholas while attending a promotional event for Biolage at Bondi’s Icebergs.

Nicholas works as a director at a business consultancy firm and as a non-executive director at the non-profit Karitane. 

He previously spent 11 years as executive director at global consultancy firm CT Group, leaving in 2022. 

Pip first debuted her relationship with Nicholas in April, when the couple attended a VIP-only Prada party in Sydney.

While Pip is said to have introduced him as her guest, an onlooker saw the corporate adviser, who has previously been married, give her a playful pat on the behind.

An Australian mother has been charged by police after allegedly placing a listening device in her son’s pocket when he began returning home with unexplained bruises.

Skye Cooper’s seven-year-old son, who is autistic, non-verbal and has epilepsy, had been attending a primary school in eastern Victoria.

Ms Cooper said she first noticed bruising on her son’s arm last year. But it was his increasingly distressed behaviour when being taken to school that caused her the greatest concern.

“When he came home with a couple of bruises, multiple times, we kept an eye on it,” the 36-year-old previously told the Daily Mail.

“While dropping him off at school, he started to become very irate. He did not want to leave the car. He was very verbal about that for a non-verbal child.

“He had never shown any aggression or that type of behaviour before attending that school or after attending that school.”

After hearing about other concerned parents using listening devices with their children, Ms Cooper decided to purchase one online.

She said she placed the device in her son’s pocket each morning from June until October 2025. When she later listened to the recordings, Ms Cooper said she was shocked by what she heard.

She alleged that a teacher’s aide who worked with her son told him: “If you hurt me, I’ll hurt you.”

“That was said at least three times. I couldn’t keep putting him through that and I had enough evidence to pull him out of that school,” Ms Cooper said.

“He copped a lot of verbal abuse from the teacher’s aide he was working with one-on-one.

“It got worse, and you could hear him screaming in the recording. He was quite distraught. It was heartbreaking to listen to.

“I’m trying to protect my child. I went to the Victorian Disability Workers Commission to make a formal complaint.”

Ms Cooper said the aide initially denied making the alleged remarks. However, after being shown the recordings, the aide sent her what Ms Cooper described as a “p***-poor” apology letter.

In the letter, the aide said she “cannot specifically recall stating these words” but was “remorseful such a statement was made”.

“I clearly used words that I should not have used,” the aide wrote in the apology.

The Daily Mail is not suggesting that the aide was responsible for the child’s bruises.

In Victoria, it is a criminal offence to use a listening device to record a private conversation without the consent of others involved.

Ms Cooper has now been charged with ‘regulation of installation, use and maintenance of a listening device’ between September and October last year.

The shocked mother told the ABC: ‘I was trying to protect my child. I just couldn’t make sense of it, that… the tables have been turned on me.’

Ms Cooper told the Herald Sun she planned to fight the charge, which was scheduled to be heard by the La Trobe Valley Magistrates’ Court in February.

‘It’s not even about the money, it’s the principle of it. Why am I the one getting punished?’ she said.

Ms Cooper said she has been informed by police that if she pleaded guilty to the charge and donated $300 to a suitable charity, she would not be convicted.

Police had originally interviewed Ms Cooper and released her without charge. 

‘I thought it was ridiculous,’ she told the Daily Mail at the time.

‘I still would’ve done it. I think any mother would self-sacrifice to protect their child.’

Ms Cooper enrolled her son in another school where she said he had been doing a lot better.

A spokesperson Victoria’s Department of Education repeated their statement from May when contacted for comment by the Daily Mail regarding the charge.

‘The safety of students at school is our priority, and the priority of our educators,’ they said.

‘We always urge parents or carers to raise any safety concerns directly with their school so they can be investigated fully.’

Christian Brueckner, the main suspect in the Madeleine McCann investigation, says he was within 150 yards of the family’s holiday apartment on the night the child disappeared.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, the convicted rapist and paedophile, 49, claimed Portuguese police stopped his van three times later that evening as he attempted to make what he described as a “quick getaway”. He said officers allowed him to continue without searching the vehicle.

Brueckner, a German national who has consistently denied any role in Madeleine’s disappearance, had previously refused to disclose where he was when the three-year-old vanished from her family’s apartment at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, were dining with friends at a restaurant about 100 yards from the apartment at the time.

Brueckner told the newspaper: “I was on the beach, not far from Maddie’s hotel, selling drugs. I’d been in Spain and smuggled the weed into Portugal.” He said he was approximately 150 yards from the apartment.

“I was even stopped by police three times on the street [in Praia da Luz] while they were looking for Maddie,” he claimed.

“Luckily, they didn’t find the drugs. My van was full of them.”

He said he was trying to leave as police established checkpoints across the area. “I was making a quick getaway; there were flashing blue lights and checkpoints everywhere. I just thought, ‘Get me out of here’.” Explaining why he had not previously spoken about his location, Brueckner added: “I’ve kept quiet because the police want to frame me for the Maddie thing.”

A source close to the McCann family said the claim raised troubling questions. “If what he [Brueckner] says is true, it obviously begs the question of what might have been if the Portuguese police had not let him slip through their fingers,” the source said.

Portuguese police faced criticism at the time for their response to Madeleine’s disappearance, with accusations that the possibility of an abduction was not treated with sufficient urgency.

German prosecutors identified Brueckner as the leading suspect in the case in 2020.

They said they possessed “concrete evidence” linking him to the investigation, although they acknowledged it was not sufficient to obtain a conviction.

Brueckner was frequently in Portugal in 2007, and a mobile phone registered in his name was traced near the McCann family’s accommodation on the evening Madeleine vanished.

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Metropolitan Police detectives are seeking to bring Brueckner to Britain to face trial over Madeleine’s alleged abduction and murder. He has two rape convictions and has also been convicted of offences including theft, drug trafficking, assault and sexual abuse of children.

He was released from a German prison in September last year after serving six years for raping a 72-year-old American tourist. Following his release, Brueckner was placed under round-the-clock surveillance.

Separately, authorities are investigating him over an alleged sexual assault involving a nine-year-old girl in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, in 2015.

It remains unclear whether Brueckner’s account of the night Madeleine disappeared will accelerate efforts to extradite him to the UK.

Yesterday, the Met said a dedicated team was continuing to examine the case and remained in close working discussion with police colleagues in Germany and Portugal.

A spokesman added: ‘We will continue to pursue any viable lines of enquiry.’ In 2020, German prosecutor Christian Wolters said Brueckner’s Portuguese phone received a call from another Portuguese number at 7.32pm on the evening that Madeleine disappeared.

He said the call, which lasted 30 minutes, was significant. It was later discovered that it was from Diogo Silva, of Portugal.

But in his interview with the MoS, Brueckner stonewalled questions about this call, saying he could not remember whether he had ever used the mobile number released by German police. He also denied knowing Silva.

On the morning after Madeleine disappeared, Brueckner re-registered the Jaguar XJR-6 car he owned in Germany to a friend’s name. 

As for a VW camper van, which he sometimes used to live in, Brueckner sold it to a car dealer, identified as Peter W, in Regensburg, Bavaria, for £5,000 in 2015.

Brueckner insisted to the MoS: ‘I have nothing to do with the little girl’s disappearance ‘I would be happy if Maddie turned up tomorrow, then everyone would immediately understand that everything against me is and was staged. 

‘But that probably won’t happen, so I remain the prime suspect.’