Rail Death Teen's Mother Found Dead
Updated: 12:29, Wednesday September 19, 2007
A mother who found life "unbearable" after her teenage daughter died on a railway line has been struck dead by a train on the same stretch of track.
Joanne Coombs and her daughter
Police sources said the body of 40-year-old Joanne Coombs had been discovered near Manningtree station in Essex last night.
Her 17-year-old daughter Natasha was found dead near the same spot in August, having vanished following a night out with friends in Ipswich on July 27.
Mrs Coombs appeared at a press conference on August 2 with her husband Gary, 48, to appeal for help in finding Natasha.
She broke down in front of the cameras as the couple discussed the disappearance of Natasha, their only daughter.
"The house is so empty without her," said Mrs Coombs. "It's unbearable."
Mrs Coombs told reporters she was a housewife, while her husband was a mergers and acquisitions manager with insurance company Norwich Union in Norwich.
She said the family had been due to go on holiday to Canada on August 4.
Natasha had been excited by the prospect of the trip and was also looking forward to turning 18 later this year.
Mrs Coombs told of her last conversation with Natasha - when the teenager called on the night she vanished to say she would be getting a taxi home from the station.
Natasha died aged 17
On August 8, Mr and Mrs Coombs made a second appeal for help in finding Natasha and said they lived in constant fear of "what tomorrow would bring".
After the identification of her body on August 13, police said they thought the teenager died after being hit by a train, and a coroner launched an investigation.
British Transport Police officers were called to Manningtree station at around 8.30pm last night after the driver of the 19:00 Liverpool Street to Norwich service reported a possible track fault.
When the track was checked by the driver of a following freight train, he found the body on the line.
"It is believed that the woman was struck and killed by the train reporting the track fault. This incident is not being treated as suspicious," said a BTP spokeswoman.
"The deceased has not yet been formally identified and an investigation is under way."
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Rail Death Teen's Mother Found Dead
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