UK - Gaia Pope, 19, found deceased, Swanage, Dorset, 7 Nov 2017 #2

[LadyL]

I did see a stone wall looking at some of the pictures after I posted
the land looks so isolated ... is each walled off area typically owned by different people?

They are dry stone walls. Most of that area is used for keeping sheep and cattle. The ground is too stony from centuries of quarrying to grow crops in a lot of those fields.

 

[evans242]

I also have a 19 year old daughter with epilepsy. It's a bloody nuisance. The very Bain of her life. Big restrictor for lifestyle choices. Terrible memory problems and forgetfulness. Small seizures cause confusions, and the big ones are so debilitating. Takes around an hour after seizure before she can actually open her heavy looking eyes and even then it's in a drowsed manner. looking like she's been ragged and dragged. Totally not with it. You have to talk clearly and loud saying things like "walk carefully, keep going, one foot in front of the other, that's a good girl, keep going" She has to be guided and steadied because she then walks like a drunkard, staggering with no real balance, helping her onto her bed, or up the stairs, or into the house. Depending on where she was when it happened. During this time She has the most excruciating headache which always needs both 2 paracetamol & 2 ibuprofen. She takes these then needs to sleep for around 6 to 8 hours. She goes into a really heavy sleep. You have to keep checking on her. Then when she eventually wakes she often doesn't know it's happened unless she had bitten the tip or side of her tongue during it and she will say "my tongue is sore did I have a fit?" But with my thoughts returning to Gaia she would have experienced worse seizure activity due to lack of meds. This can in turn lead to repeated seizures as there is nothing in her system to stop the build up of electrical activity. It can go into a prolonged and repeated state. Not forgetting during the seizure as it progresses the breathing gets slower and slower to the point where you think COME ON BREATHE! as in my daughter's case the breathing almost ceases . Her face is grey, her lips are almost black, the rings around her eyes are nearly black by then... Then eventually SHE DOES! She takes that gasp. Phew! Over till the next time. If that happened to her out in the wilderness I dread to think what would become of her.

 

[hippy hippy]

Symptoms of epilepsy - Focal Seizures https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/seizures/focal-seizures

• Part of your body, for example one arm, going stiff
• Part of your body going limp or ‘floppy’
• Rhythmic jerking in part of your body
• Brief, irregular jerks in part of your body
• Your head and eyes turning to one side
• Lip smacking, repeated swallowing or chewing
• A jerking movement that starts in one part of your body – usually your hand or face – and then spreads bit by bit to other parts of your body
• Having repeated movements such as rocking, pedalling or pelvic thrusting
• Undressing
• Running or walking

• Feelings of fear, anxiety, anger or pleasure
• Changes to your vision, hearing, smell or taste
• Having sensations of being hot or cold
• Seeing or hearing things that aren’t there (hallucinations)
• Feeling like your body is distorted
• Feeling like part of your body is missing or doesn’t belong to you
• Feeling or being sick
• Changes to breathing, heart-rate or skin tone
• Feeling like what’s happening has happened before (deja vu)
• Difficulty processing language

Undressing, running or walking .......having sensations of being hot or cold - anxiety - difficulties with language ( ie the 'talking broken biscuits' report.

Personally I think epilepsy fits really well for explaining her behaviour and why she might have run off and taken her clothes off up at the cliffs. As her family said, she was getting worse and having fits everyday.

I just wanted to reply to LucyRocket that actually these sypmtoms can last a whole lot longer than just a few moments! I wrote on the previous thread that I had a Grand Mal seizure which lasted more than five minutes, back in August, and experienced many of these after affects for up to a month afterwards. In particular delusions, memory loss, anxiety, Deja vue and verbal incoherence. Had to sign off work as I work with the elderly and was deemed a risk. My seizure was brought on by three weeks of horrendous stress and almost total lack of sleep. So poor Gaia suffered daily seizures with terrific stress as a background. She was in a lot worse medical state than me. And SUDEP is something that hangs over us for life, even if it is deemed rare, it is still a possibility....

 

[johnsmith99]

As far as I know all of the fields are owned by the same farm. There are a few farms up that side of the valley and each one owns several small fields. The farms around here all predate modern agricultural practices of big expansive fields with massive heards of livestock. These farms date back to when smaller fields were used so you could manage small heards of livestock by moving them from field to field as the grass grows.

once you get further up the valley the fields get bigger and the livestock is replaced by crops.

 

[Tortoise]

I think we can rule out animal attack unless she was pricked to death by an irate hedgehog.

Would there usually have been dog walkers in the area at that time of late afternoon, if she was there say at about 5pm?

 

[johnsmith99]

Would there usually have been dog walkers in the area at that time of late afternoon, if she was there say at about 5pm?

It is a popular area with dog walkers but it was raining and would have been dark by then so I doubt if there were many around and unless they walked by close to Gaia they wouldn’t see her in the dark if she was wearing a red top.

 

[Malaconotus]

Probably because I think it is illegal to name a minor in a sexual assault case and a link to the case in a thread about Gaia would be naming her in the case.

All victims of sex crimes in the UK, adult or child, have lifelong anonymity by law. I guess that the sad death of Gaia Pope means that no longer applies but it would still be extremely dubious ethically, and in appalling taste, to disclose and discuss the previous case at this time and I would hope posters refrain from doing so.

 

[Elainera]

Adding to the good questions above: Did GP succumb quickly after arriving at the coastal field area or was it many hours later?

The 8C weather at 4-5pm is chilly but not life threateningly cold (even naked) and still 7C and 10pm then 4C at midnight - easily survivable temps until midnight at least unless other factors involved.

So GP was in the area of the field for a period of time, either alive and well or succumbing to some kind of medical episode for hours.

So why did GP go to the fields in the first place?

What was GP doing for hours either before or after clothes shedding if hypothermia was the cause of death?

What are the other factors in GPs death if it was more immediate - say 5-6pm?

Links for reference - cold survival

https://www.livescience.com/34128-limits-human-survival.html

Also see this link - 8 hours in fridge in t-shirt and leggings and survived with stiff legs and a migraine."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-writes-help-message-in-ketchup-a6717206.html

But it was raining and she undressed, plus on top of the cliffs there would be a least a breeze, adding windchill. All of this would certainly add to the cooling of her body and lead to hypothermia, even if it wasn't freezing cold. imo

 

[Elainera]

I also have a 19 year old daughter with epilepsy. It's a bloody nuisance. The very Bain of her life. Big restrictor for lifestyle choices. Terrible memory problems and forgetfulness. Small seizures cause confusions, and the big ones are so debilitating. Takes around an hour after seizure before she can actually open her heavy looking eyes and even then it's in a drowsed manner. looking like she's been ragged and dragged. Totally not with it. You have to talk clearly and loud saying things like "walk carefully, keep going, one foot in front of the other, that's a good girl, keep going" She has to be guided and steadied because she then walks like a drunkard, staggering with no real balance, helping her onto her bed, or up the stairs, or into the house. Depending on where she was when it happened. During this time She has the most excruciating headache which always needs both 2 paracetamol & 2 ibuprofen. She takes these then needs to sleep for around 6 to 8 hours. She goes into a really heavy sleep. You have to keep checking on her. Then when she eventually wakes she often doesn't know it's happened unless she had bitten the tip or side of her tongue during it and she will say "my tongue is sore did I have a fit?" But with my thoughts returning to Gaia she would have experienced worse seizure activity due to lack of meds. This can in turn lead to repeated seizures as there is nothing in her system to stop the build up of electrical activity. It can go into a prolonged and repeated state. Not forgetting during the seizure as it progresses the breathing gets slower and slower to the point where you think COME ON BREATHE! as in my daughter's case the breathing almost ceases . Her face is grey, her lips are almost black, the rings around her eyes are nearly black by then... Then eventually SHE DOES! She takes that gasp. Phew! Over till the next time. If that happened to her out in the wilderness I dread to think what would become of her.

Wow. Thank you for sharing this. It really made me understand that epilepsy is so much worse than I had imagined.

You said "Takes around an hour after seizure before she can actually open her heavy looking eyes" - when you look at the cctv footage from the garage Gaia was in before she left, and look at her face and especially the eyes, do you think she might have had a seizure just a little while ago?

My regards and blessings to your daughter. This sounds heavy, a lot to deal with for such a young person. Does she have times (days?weeks?) with no seizure activity? I hope she can still find ways to enjoy her life, be carefree.

 

[johnsmith99]

But it was raining and she undressed, plus on top of the cliffs there would be a least a breeze, adding windchill. All of this would certainly add to the cooling of her body and lead to hypothermia, even if it wasn't freezing cold. imo

The temperature along the cliffs is often a few degrees colder than the reported temperature for the town, mainly because of the altitude and updrafts from the sea and the weather station used to record the temperature is in the middle of the town at sea level so it is sheltered from the winds unless there is an easterly.

 

[Elainera]

As far as I know all of the fields are owned by the same farm. There are a few farms up that side of the valley and each one owns several small fields. The farms around here all predate modern agricultural practices of big expansive fields with massive heards of livestock. These farms date back to when smaller fields were used so you could manage small heards of livestock by moving them from field to field as the grass grows.

once you get further up the valley the fields get bigger and the livestock is replaced by crops.

You know John, it sounds like a really lovely area you're living in. When I ever get to visit England again I will come and visit.

So sad that this happened to Gaia there. It must be hanging like a shadow over the town right now.

Do you have a lot of crime there? I guess not?

 

[Elainera]

It is a popular area with dog walkers but it was raining and would have been dark by then so I doubt if there were many around and unless they walked by close to Gaia they wouldn’t see her in the dark if she was wearing a red top.

Is there no lighting at all along the coastal and other paths?

 

[Elainera]

The temperature along the cliffs is often a few degrees colder than the reported temperature for the town, mainly because of the altitude and updrafts from the sea and the weather station used to record the temperature is in the middle of the town at sea level so it is sheltered from the winds unless there is an easterly.

Right. So it must have been close to freezing there that night?

(Sorry for all the posts in succession!)

 

[johnsmith99]

You know John, it sounds like a really lovely area you're living in. When I ever get to visit England again I will come and visit.

So sad that this happened to Gaia there. It must be hanging like a shadow over the town right now.

Do you have a lot of crime there? I guess not?

There is some crime but not much. You get a few burglaries and assaults, mainly around the pubs at kicking out time and the usual small time drug dealers but very little high level crime. The main thing that made me think this wasn’t a murder is that they are very rare in the town. The last one was over 40 years ago.

 

[Elainera]

There is some crime but not much. You get a few burglaries and assaults, mainly around the pubs at kicking out time and the usual small time drug dealers but very little high level crime. The main thing that made me think this wasn’t a murder is that they are very rare in the town. The last one was over 40 years ago.

Wow 40 years!

All the more astounding that LE so quickly arrested not one but three people on suspicion of murder!

 

[johnsmith99]

Is there no lighting at all along the coastal and other paths?

Not unles the moon is out.

There are street lights up cow lane and priests road but as soon as she went off road at Priests Way she would be in the dark all the way to the cliffs.

As she knew the area it wouldn’t have been too difficult for her to navigate in the dark. The footpaths are mostly white limestone so once your eyes get used to the dark it is easy to see if you are on the track.

It was dusk when she left the house so she would have had at least an hour before it got properly dark and it is only a 15 to 30 minute walk up to the cliffs.

 

[Foxymona]

With respect for Gaia and her family and friends- I am bowing out unless the tox reports point to anything other than accidental death.

May she rest in peace and I do hope her family and in particular, her sisters, have all the support they need. I may come back ranting if the rags do their suicide headlines again! I hope they give the family a break.

 

[squareishpeg]

You'd prefer for her to have been murdered?
I find that attitude very strange.

No, no - that's not what I mean at all - It's not as though I'd be "happy," so to speak, if toxicology would reveal that there was foul play involved, but idk, I jus really hate to think that she took her own life. Really, I didn't phrase my response well an I do apologize.

 

[johnsmith99]

I’m going to stop posting as well for now as there isn’t much more that can be said unless there are any new developments.

I hope the media give Gaia’s family some space over the next few weeks so they can grieve in peace.

 

[D.Light]

Been away for the weekend [no internet access] and was truly devestated to hear this via the news last night. Has taken me two hours to read back through the thread.

I feel so desperately sad for Gaia, she was obviously a troubled little soul, and had endured a lot in her short little life.... in her father's words...

She was involved in a situation where some guys assaulted her. This had a really devastating effect on her. I think this had been coming back into her head. She was scared. I think her head…with the epilepsy which messes with her head anyway, she gets confused, she has memory loss. A combination of different things…she's just had [gets emotional].

'I think there was some Facebook interaction which may have triggered back memories of the previous issue but now is not the time to go into those details.

Read more, : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5088961/Gaia-Pope-s-father-breaks-down.html#ixzz4yvLOtxcN

Can I ask the fellow locals, exactly what route do you think Gaia took to end up where she did? I know for a fact [as I have said before, I can not elaborate] RD indicated that Gaia left hers and was heading to a property very near to the top of Cow Lane [off Panaroma Road], she did not make the short [4-6 minutes/if that] trip there, did she change her mind and head straight for where she ended up? If so,
Did she go up Panorama Road, Past Townsend Nature Reserve on left and get into the fields that way? or
Into Priests Way [entrance nearly opposite 'Purbeck View'] that cuts through [back of Ash Close], or
Carry on up Priests Way [through Shorefield Coastal Park] and cut in right before California Barn, or
Continue past California Barn [on left]

At @4.15, kids coming home from Swanage School, mums bringing kids home from nursery, dog walkers.... and no one saw a distressed young girl? in the near on freezing cold with only a shirt on? I think JohnSmith99 has said it was raining by 5... those white trainers look pretty clean to me... ANY of those routes above and her trainers WOULD have got mud on.

Too many things do not add up for me, I can not believe that those clothes were not spotted before.... I walk my dog everyday on Townsend and beyond... there have been helicopters all along that coast line for days... the clothes were found on Thursday but no extensive searches on Friday? if she wasn't that far from the clothes why wasn't she found before? I was up there for two hours on Friday morning and I barely saw a soul.

This case keeps springing to my mind.... the parents who covered up for their murderous son, and how they were eventually convicted because the police bugged their home

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...ionate-judge-jails-parents-for-27-months.html

I hope Gaia's family will draw strength from the tens of thousands of people that showed love for Gaia, and ignore the ignoramus's who persecuted, and dragged her to such a low level. I hope Gaia's family can find comfort that she was bought back to them, and they can honour her life, and lay her to rest in the way that she deserves.

May you forever rest in peace Gaia, and if Justice needs to be served, let it be!