Gaia Pope: Missing teenager died of hypothermia

‘I am aware the family have a number of concerns in relation to Gaia’s death’

TEENAGER Gaia Pope, whose disappearance sparked a major police inquiry, died from hypothermia, an inquest has heard.

Rachael Griffin, the Dorset coroner, opened the hearing into the death of the 19-year-old student at Bournemouth Town Hall.

The court heard that Miss Pope was reported missing from her home near Swanage, Dorset, on Nov 7 last year. The teenager, who had severe epilepsy, was not found for 11 days. Her disappearance triggered a massive search by family and friends.

Her body was discovered by police teams in undergrowth between Dancing Ledge and Anvil Point, close to the Swanage coastal path, on Nov 18.

Three people, two men aged 19 and 49 and a 71-year-old woman, were arrested. They were released without any further action being taken.

Miss Griffin said: “I am aware the family have a number of concerns in relation to Gaia’s death and some of those will be very relevant to my inquiry but some will not be. It is not that I am unsympathetic to those concerns but they simply fall outside my remit.”

Andrew Lord, the coroner’s officer, said that Dr Russell Delaney, the pathologist, was initially unable to establish a cause of death. Following tests, Dr Delaney was later able to say that Miss Pope had died from hypothermia.

He confirmed that the police did not believe there to be any third party involvement in her death. The inquest will resume later this year.