Mother of railway death teenager is found dead on SAME stretch of track

[Honey]

The grief-stricken mother of a teenage girl found dead on a railway line five weeks ago is thought to have killed herself by jumping in front of a train on the same stretch of track.



Joanne Coombs, 41, had been struggling to come to terms with the death of 17-year-old Natasha, her only child.
Relatives said she had been left in "limbo" because police had failed to establish whether her daughter's death was an accident or whether she took her own life by stepping on to the line. scroll down for more...
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• Dead mother had been left in limbo by the unsolved 'suicide' of her daughter

Double tragedy: Natasha with her mother Joanne. Her father Gary posted this photo online to commemorate Natasha's 18th birthday on 8 September



Last night Gary Coombs, 48, her husband and Natasha's father, was said to be devastated after the latest tragedy.
He looked distraught as he left the family home in Dovercourt Essex, yesterday to visit a church.
Mrs Coombs's body was found on the London to Norwich line on Tuesday night, yards from the spot her daughter's body was discovered on August 10. Scroll down for more...

Natasha Coombs, who was found dead in August, was an only child



Natasha failed to return home from a night out with friends in Ipswich on July 27, leading to a nationwide hunt amid fears she had been abducted.
Two weeks later her body was found next to the railway line in Manningtree, Essex, with injuries that suggested she had been struck by a train.
Police have been unable to say whether Natasha, who had recently split up with her boyfriend, had died in an accident or committed suicide.
Tragic: Gary and Joanne Coombs made several appeals for the return of Natasha


Mrs Coombs was also deeply distressed by the fact that her daughter's body could be identified only through dental records.
Mr and Mrs Coombs often made pilgrimages to the place Natasha's body was found and left a card for her there on what would have been her 18th birthday on September 8.
Yesterday Mrs Coombs's aunt, Lillian Clackett, said: "Poor Joanne could never get closure because there were so many unanswered questions.
"The only thing I can think of is she went to the railway track to try to understand why.
"I think, possibly, if she could have identified her body, she would have had an end to it.
"When someone goes out of your front door and doesn't come back it's hard to take in they've gone."
Mrs Coombs's body is said to have been found by the driver of a freight train who had been investigating a "track fault".
It is thought that she had been hit by that train.

After his daughter's disappearance Mr Coombs and his wife told how they were suffering "unimaginable pain".
Mrs Coombs had wept as she appealed for help finding Natasha, a clerical assistant at a property firm in Colchester, on August 2.
"The house is so empty without her," she said. "It's unbearable."
Last night a British Transport Police spokesman said the body of Mrs Coombs had not yet been formally identified. Scroll down for more...
Natasha Coombs was described as modest by her mother



He said: "Shortly before 8.30pm on Tuesday night the driver of the 7pm Liverpool St to Norwich service reported a possible track fault.
"When the line was checked by the driver of a following freight train, he found the body of a woman near Manningtree station on the down line.
"This incident is not being treated as suspicious." Scroll down for more...
Tributes remain at the scene of Natasha Coombs' death. Her mother was found dead there today


Mother of railway death teenager Natasha Coombs is found dead on SAME stretch of track | the Daily Mail

[sweet and sexy]

How sad. Mother and daughter both dead.

[sharon_b]

I know the mother felt suicidal because she lost her only daughter and felt like she couldn't cope which is understandable but I’m assuming the father felt the same way too. It bothers me that people commit suicide because they need to be close to the loved one that they lost or because they can't deal with the pain. All it does is heap more heartbreak on to the relatives that are left behind to pick up the pieces as if life couldn't get any worse for them.

I am sad that the mother lost her only daughter but she and her husband both had each other to lean on at that difficult time but now that both his wife and his only daughter have died the husband/father is left all by himself to grieve for his losses with no one to comfort him….... right now my heart aches for him, i hope he doesn't go the same way.

[MrsMarsters]

It is sad her daughter is gone, but how screwed up is it that the father no longer has ANYONE?

[january]

I don't think that girl killed herself at all, I think the first death was a tragic accident. This poor husband, I don't know what I'd do with myself. This whole case is so sad.

[blissfullyunaware]

Tears came to my eyes, reading this.How sad.

[Sleuth]

i get really pissed off when people commit suicide by jumping in front of trains, trucks etc.. .do they even think about the drivers who are going to be traumatised in knowing that they killed someone? with that said, i feel incredibly sad for the father... its a tragedy and i hope he is receiving some bloody good counselling.

[Sweetie]

How sad. She was a right pretty girl.

[crumpet]

That is one of the saddest stories I've read in a while. If I dies my mom would probably do the same thing.

That Natahsa was a pretty girl,too.

[nwgirl]

Even though I'm married, I've often wondered (when reading stories such as this or seeing them on the news) if I would want to live anymore if something happened to my son. I agree that it's selfish she killed herself, but I can see what she might have been feeling. I can't imagine what the dad must be going through now.

[southernbelle]

One of my friends was hit and killed by a train while jogging about two years ago. I never believed that could happen but apparently it is more common than people realize.

I think Natasha's death probably was an accident, and I agree that it was selfish of Joanne to take her own life. Even though I'm sure it was devastating for Joanne, I feel sorry for the father. If I were him, I would feel it was a slap in the face... sort of like Joanne felt that he wasn't worth living for now that they had lost their daughter.