Gaia Pope was not murdered, say experts
Family of suspects vow to take legal action over their ‘wrongful’ arrests to clear alleged smears on character
Gaia Pope was not murdered, a post-mortem examination has strongly suggested, as the family of the trio arrested in connection with her death have vowed to take legal action. Dorset Police confirmed no injuries were found to suggest any third-party involvement in the 19-year-old’s death.
GAIA POPE was not murdered, a postmortem examination has strongly suggested, as the family of the trio arrested in connection with her death have vowed to take legal action over their “wrongful” detention.
Following the discovery of the teenager’s body on Saturday afternoon, Dorset Police have now confirmed that it has found no injuries to suggest any third party involvement in her death.
It comes 11 days after her twin sister, Maya Pope-sutherland, said on social media that the 19-year-old, who suffered from epilepsy, could have been in a “medical crisis”.
In a Facebook post published on Nov 9, two days after Gaia disappeared, she wrote: “Gaia is either in medical crisis or is still running … she last told us she was unwell and lost and that she was having lots of seizures.”
Det Supt Paul Kessell, of Dorset Police’s major crime investigation team, said: “The post-mortem examination has not identified any injuries to suggest any other person was involved in her death. The cause of death is undetermined pending toxicology.
“The coroner is involved in the oversight of these examinations but at this time this remains an investigation into an unexplained death.”
The update came as police officers handling the investigation were criticised by a father whose son and grandson were arrested on suspicion of her murder. Greg Elsey, whose ex-wife Rosemary Dinch was also arrested by police, said the ordeal had “ruined their lives” because “mud sticks”.
The trio, all of whom were known to Miss Pope, were released after being taken into custody last week. They remain under investigation by police.
Yesterday Miss Pope’s cousin Marienna Pope-weidemann wrote on Facebook: “We hold you in our hearts forever. Know you are with Nan & Pops now but miss you beyond words. You will have justice. Fly on.”
Ms Pope-sutherland also paid tribute in a Facebook post: “Can’t find any words right now. Gaia is my everything and I am heartbroken. I thank everyone who was involved in searching for my beautiful twin. Going to make her so proud.” But Mr Elsey, 69, said his family intends to pursue legal action over the arrests of 71-year-old Rosemary, his son Paul, 49, a carpenter, and his actor grandson Nathan, 19, for alleged smears on their character.
“The officers running this investigation seem to be a bunch of wooden tops,” he said at his home in West Wellow, near Romsey, Hants, yesterday after admitting his heart went out to Gaia’s family.
“What my family has been through due to Rosemary’s act of kindness in inviting Gaia into her home is terrible.”
He went on: “Paul wasn’t even around at the time, he was working 30 miles away. You would’ve thought the police could work that out.
“When they had Nathan in they asked him no more than 10 questions in 24 hours. It’s ridiculous.
“And you’ve seen my ex-wife? She carries around an oxygen tank for goodness sake.
“We will take action for wrongful arrest. This has ruined their lives. Mud sticks, doesn’t it? Police should have said they were talking to someone who was helping them. Instead they said they arrested people on suspicion of murder. In terms of a smear on someone’s character, it really doesn’t get much worse, does it?”
Specialist search teams found Miss Pope’s body on land near Swanage, close to where clothing identified as hers was located near cliffs on Thursday.
Hundreds of volunteers joined her family, including her father Richard Sutherland, in a mass search prior to the discovery.
‘We will take action for wrongful arrest. This has ruined their lives. Mud sticks doesn’t it?’