Grieving twins, 59, fell to their death with parents’ ashes in their backpacks
RECLUSIVE twins who were struggling to cope with the death of their parents fell 200ft from the cliffs of Dover while carrying their ashes, an inquest heard yesterday.
The bodies of Muriel and Bernard Burgess, 59, were found at the bottom of the landmark on New Year’s Day.
Police found the ashes of their parents in rucksacks carried by the pair, both keen walkers with a history of depression. But a coroner said it was impossible to know whether they died in a tragic accident or if they intended to take their own lives.
Despite speculation at the time, police found no evidence that the twins slipped on the cliff edge and fell while trying to scatter their parents’ ashes.
The Burgesses were discovered by rescue crews searching for another man, Scott Enion, 45, who had been seen jumping from the cliffs.
An inquest in Maidstone, Kent, heard police spoke to the pair a week earlier after a walker raised concerns they may be sleeping rough. They told officers they had travelled to Dover by train and were enjoying a walking tour, and were allowed to go on their way.
When their bodies were found, both were carrying rucksacks containing human ashes, one labelled as belonging to their mother, also called Muriel. The second was unmarked but officers found an empty wooden box with a plaque commemorating their father, Bernard Snr, at their home.
Det Sgt Stuart Ward said receipts showed they travelled to London in December and arrived in Dover on Christmas Day. He added: ‘A walker contacted Kent Police for concern for a male who was sheltering on the cliff top. A police officer attended and located two people who identified themselves as Muriel and Bernard Burgess.
‘There was no indication they were there scattering the ashes at the cliffs of Dover.’
Police said the twins had sought help from their GP following the death of their mother in 2014. They had been referred to the GP by the Citizens Advice Bureau, which they visited for help to deal with financial problems.
Their doctor said neither seemed suicidal or psychotic, but they were referred to a mental health team and offered counselling.
The twins’ father died in 1984 and they lived with their mother, acting as her carer. The family settled in North Wales but after their mother’s death the twins, who were single, unemployed and had no children, moved to Cheshire. Officers said they enjoyed long walks and had disappeared from their home in the village of Elton, near Chester, for three months last summer. They told neighbours they had been walking around Britain. Det Sgt Ward said he traced several cousins and an aunt, who said they hadn’t spoken to the twins for years until they asked to borrow money recently.
Senior coroner Patricia Harding said: ‘I am satisfied from evidence I’ve heard that the injuries were from falling from a great height. Given an absence of evidence as to how they died, I am going to record an open verdict. There is no evidence whether they intended to take their own life or whether this is a tragic accident.’
One neighbour said: ‘When their mother died they were devastated. I could hear them crying and shouting in grief for weeks.’
The coroner recorded that Mr Enion, of Radcliffe, killed himself. The 1991 Gulf War veteran had been suffering from depression.
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