The Herald (South Africa)

Jeffreys woman found dead in Bahamas hotel

- Angela Daniels danielsa@tisoblacks­tar.co.za

FAMILY members of a young woman from Jeffreys Bay are trying to make sense of her death in a hotel room in the Bahamas – hiring prominent lawyer William Booth to help.

Carla van Eeden, 25, was found dead in her hotel last week.

News outlets in the Bahamas reported that police had found her body hanging by a cord at the back of the bathroom door of her hotel room.

Social media news outlet Bahamas News Ma Bey wrote: “We have an apparent suicide at Royal Towers.

“The deceased is one 25-yearold Carla Van Eeden of South Africa. She arrived in the Bahamas on May 14.

“She was found with a cord around her neck behind the bathroom door of her room.

“She was clad in light and dark blue all-in-one pajamas.”

Booth, however, said her family did noty want to speculate on the cause of her death before speaking to police and getting the postmortem results.

Booth, who was contacted by Carla’s brother, Nicholas, said he and another brother were in the Bahamas speaking to police and gathering more informatio­n.

“I have been asked to give guidance in their dealings with the police,” he said. “Things are still uncertain. “All we can say is unfortunat­ely she passed away. One would have to see [what happened] from police and the autopsy.

“Unless there is a proper release [of informatio­n from police], the family does not want to speculate.”

Van Eeden had been crewing on a yacht when she arrived in the Bahamas on Monday last week and decided on some leisure time on Paradise Island, off Nassau.

Her Facebook profile indicates a bubbly young woman who had travelled extensivel­y, recently attending the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in California.

She had also travelled to Mexico and London.

Jeffreys Bay resident Deon Meyer posted condolence­s on the Jeffreys Bay Facebook page.

He wrote: “Sad news that I would like to share as the mother [Kathy van Eeden] was a well-known resident and most of the children grew up here and attended our schools.

“Our deepest sympathy and condolence­s.”

 ??  ?? CARLA VAN EEDEN
CARLA VAN EEDEN

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