UK Bodies of man and woman recovered from beneath cliff at Whitby Abbey, 30th July 2025

[RobinCAL]

Bodies of man and woman recovered from beneath cliff at Whitby Abbey

An investigation into the circumstances of the deaths is under way while police seek to trace the man and woman's next of kin.

news.sky.com

Two bodies have been recovered from beneath the cliff at Whitby Abbey, police have said.

A member of the public called the police at around 7.15pm on Wednesday after spotting a man and a woman on the rocks below, North Yorkshire police said.

 

[Cinister09]

Whitby is such a beautiful place.

This is incredibly sad.

 

[Cinister09]

Suicide apparently.

Couple in their 40s die after falling from cliff

The bodies of a man and a woman have been airlifted from beneath the cliffs at Whitby Abbey.

metro.co.uk

"A couple jumped off a landmark cliff face to their deaths together, according to witnesses.

The man and woman turned to face the open sea before leaping onto the rocks 200ft below in Whitby Abbey, Yorkshire last night."

 

[LadyL]

this is tremendously sad
I wonder if either of them left kids behind

 

[Cinister09]

Oh gosh, another one

Woman in her 60s found dead at bottom of cliff just hours after couple's bodies

It is the third death in the area in the space of 24 hours.

metro.co.uk

"A woman in her 60s has been found dead at the bottom of cliffs below Whitby Abbey.

It is the third death in the area in the space of 24 hours after a couple in their 40s died after falling from the cliff.

The woman’s body was found yesterday just hours after the couple’s bodies were found."

 

[Dotta]

Four dead ​

in just a matter of days at seaside beauty spot ​

as woman's body is found beneath cliffs​

after couple and another lady were discovered.​

https://twitter.com/x/status/1951924930401993141

 

[Smccat]

From Dotta’s linked article above:

North Yorkshire Police are not linking the third death, which is not believed to be suspicious, to the alleged double suicide, which the force continue to investigate.

The area beside the historic 7th-century Abbey, which sits on the clifftop over the historic fishing port of Whitby, has been busy with people setting up for a vintage steam engine rally.

North Yorkshire Police said of the latest tragedy that the woman's death is not being treated as suspicious.
…
4 in 4 days. Things that make you go mmmm!

 

[Cinister09]

What on earth is going on ...

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I hope it's not going to become a spot, a magnet for people who have lost all hope

 

[Dotta]

I have never been to Whitby
(as I live in another country)
but maybe the cliffs area is dangerous to wander to?
With sudden high drop?
Now, with summer in full swing, maybe too many people roam there oblivious to danger?

Is it a possibility?
Maybe there should be some fencing?
Or signs?

JMO

 

[RobinCAL]

I have never been to Whitby
(as I live in another country)
but maybe the cliffs area is dangerous to wander to?
With sudden high drop?
Now, with summer in full swing, maybe too many people roam there oblivious to danger?

Is it a possibility?
Maybe there should be some fencing?
Or signs?

JMO

It could very well be, but to be honest, never seen this amount of people 'falling'.

Wild ! Bless them

 

[Deleted member 117884]

It could very well be, but to be honest, never seen this amount of people 'falling'.

Wild ! Bless them

I feel for LE/EMS who has to deal with so many in a short amount of time. Of course, they deal with difficult emergencies all the time, but four suicides one after another in the same place is hard.

jmopinion

 

[pokerowan]

It could very well be, but to be honest, never seen this amount of people 'falling'.

Wild ! Bless them

I've been - it's fairly obvious where you can (and shouldn't) tread. It's an English heritage site. Around the actual abbey there are some old stone walls, and there are a few different footpath levels around the cliffs.... Lower levels definitely have fencing around them. Farming style, with barbed wire, more like a warning not to go past them than any protective measures. Hard to go over by accident.

I think these people probably went over from the upper level, near the gravestones. There's more farming fencing around the perimeter and stone walls with 'KEEP OUT' warning signs about how dangerous the cliffs are.

MOO. Suicides often inspire others. I think what is happening here is more sad than suspicious.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I hope it's not going to become a spot, a magnet for people who have lost all hope

Suicide can be contagious. Some years ago there was a major outbreak of suicides amongst young people in South Wales. Eventually the police asked the media to stop reporting the incidents in order to deter copycats.

Bridgend suicide incidents - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I have never been to Whitby
(as I live in another country)
but maybe the cliffs area is dangerous to wander to?
With sudden high drop?
Now, with summer in full swing, maybe too many people roam there oblivious to danger?

Is it a possibility?
Maybe there should be some fencing?
Or signs?

JMO

The cliffs are not dangerous per se, although occasionally there are rock falls and landslips. The seaward end of Henrietta Street was destroyed by a cliff collapse in the late 18th century and instability continues.

Whitby landslip exposes human bones at 'Dracula graveyard'

Human bones are exposed at a church graveyard in Whitby after a landslide took away part of the land.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[MelmothTheLost]

There's an article in today's mail about the 4 suicides. It appears that these latest two were from different parts of the cliffs and therefore there is no single "suicide spot" that is drawing them other than the town itself.

Four dead at seaside beauty spot as woman's body is found under cliffs

Emergency services were alerted to the discovery of a body at Sandsend near Whitby Abbey just after 11am yesterday - where three others also died this week.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[LadyL]

Four dead ​

in just a matter of days at seaside beauty spot ​

as woman's body is found beneath cliffs​

after couple and another lady were discovered.​

https://twitter.com/x/status/1951924930401993141

what the heck is going on?

 

[Carovb5]

I hope it's not going to become a spot, a magnet for people who have lost all hope

I know that in Belgium, most suicides aren’t mentioned as such in the news, for instance suicide by train. This is done because the more mentioned & the more details, the more copy cats, the Belgian Government learned.
Hoe omspringen met berichten over zelfdoding? | VRT NWS: nieuws (Sorry link in Dutch)

 

[Dotta]

"Police called ​

to another emergency on Whitby cliffs.​

Emergency services were called to Whitby cliffs again last night (Sunday).

Officers were responding to a safety report for a man aged in 30s on the East Cliff of Whitby at 3.46pm.

At 6.55pm, the man was detained for his own safety
and is now receiving the care that he needs.

The incident comes after a series of tragedies in the Whitby area."

Police called to another emergency on Whitby cliffs

yorkmix.com

Man talked down from Whitby cliff days after four deaths

The man was talked down from the cliff tops in Whitby last night by police after emergency services raced to the popular tourist town following reports of concern for safety

www-gazettelive-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org

 

[Sarahlou]

Blimey. How sad there's been so many suicides there in such a short time.