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Late Bloomers

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14625567/The-chilling-unsolved-case-thats-baffled-police-25-years-Rachelle-Childs-left-work-one-evening-day-burned-body-70-miles-away.html

The chilling unsolved case that's baffled police for 25 years: Rachelle Childs left work one evening, the next day, her burned body was found 70 miles away...

    Rachelle Childs was found partly burned in a shallow ditch in New South Wales
    Read more: My sister was murdered and then her boyfriend was found dead

By ELLEN COUGHLAN, ENTERTAINMENT AND LIFESTYLE JOURNALIST

Published: 16:27, 6 September 2025 | Updated: 16:39, 6 September 2025

When Rachelle Childs left work one Thursday afternoon in 2001, she was excited for the long weekend.  The 23-year-old, who worked as a car saleswoman, rung her sister Kristy as she left the office, confirming they were going to have a drink that evening but it never happened.  Nine hours later, Rachelle's body was found in a shallow ditch, 70 miles away from her office. Twenty four years on, her family are still looking for answers.  Despite police saying the murder had been the subject of an 'exhaustive' investigation, her killer has never been found.   In the two and a half decades since Rachelle's brutal killing and suspected rape, Kristy, who was just 18 at the time, has been hunting the culprit.  She has now written to the police minister in her native Australia asking for the investigation to be reopened even offering a $500,000 (£240,000) reward for information.  Kristy has also teamed up with the Dear Rachelle podcast host journalist Ashlea Hansen and retired detective Damian Loone in the hope to uncover new evidence which could lead to an arrest.  The podcast has now been downloaded more than four million times.   Speaking about the day Rachelle went missing she said: 'I remember she called me on her way home from work.  I was on the phone to my best mate from school and I heard the call come through and I said "I'll just answer this call quickly".   So I jumped over to the other line and it was Rachelle and she was driving, she always spoke to fast and she said "Hey it's Rachelle", and I said "I'm on the other line to Erin" and she said "right-o call me back".  And that was it, I hung up, and that was the last time I ever spoke to her.'

The siblings were meant to meet that evening but Rachelle cancelled.  Later, she later flicked a cigarette out of her car window and a police officer, who was driving behind her, noted down her vehicle reg, the date and time and wrote her up a ticket.  To this day however, her whereabouts for the nine hours after this event remain a mystery.  In the early hours of the next morning, security guard Craig Duck was on duty and heading to his next job when something burning on the side of the road caught his eye.   Speaking in the podcast he said: 'This plays on my mind the entire time, I'm trying to kick this fire out and as I'm kicking sand onto it it's coming back at my feet, I thought this isn't right.  I grabbed my torch and I got this flash of gold in my face, there was a bangle on her hand.'   

Her family were not aware that she was even missing because she had the day off on Friday.   'It was Friday night before we thought something was wrong because no one had heard from her all day and that was very unusual,' Kristy shared.

'That night we called police stations, we called all of the hospitals, we travelled around up and down the roads to see if maybe she had an accident.  The next day I printed out posters with her face that said missing I handed them out everywhere.'

Kristy was also supposed to meet Rachelle at a BBQ on Saturday. She went along as planned in the hopes that her sister would show, but after hours of waiting there was no sign of her.  She added: 'That's when I called mum and dad, I just said "she's missing I can't find her."''

By Saturday evening the family were informed that Rachelle had plans to meet someone at the Bargo hotel on Thursday evening.  They were confused as they had never heard of the venue, and claimed Rachelle didn't like to meet someone new alone.  Later Rachelle's car was found parked outside a pub in near the hotel and her family were notified.  They went to the location of the car and Kristy noticed 'there was something wrong'.

'The club lock was on upside down, she had a specific way she would put the club lock on, the handle that people used to point down she would point up and jam it in the corner of the windscreen,' she explained. 'That wasn't done, it was upside down.'

Kristy continued: 'She used to have her seat far back but it was really far back, I remember looking at the car going there is something seriously wrong here, she didn't park this here.'

Police were convinced that Rachelle knew her killer and they suspected that he might even show up to her funeral so they kept an eye on the attendees for anything out of the ordinary.  'I remember standing away from the burial site, and I had a detective beside me asking, do you know who that person is?' she recalled.

'Do you know who that person is? Do you know who that person is? And I'm like, I've got no idea who all these people are.'

Kristy said one person did stand out to her as unusual, Rachelle's boss at the Camden Holden dealership Kevin Steven Correll.  She said: 'I remember staring at him at the funeral and he wouldn't look at me.  I remember the distance he had from everybody else at the funeral. He just made me feel uncomfortable.'

Kevin, a father of two, was 22 years older than Rachelle, and reportedly had a 'crush' on her.  'I think there was a little bit of playful texting back and forth between them,' Kristy added.

Lee, a friend of Rachelle's, later told police that she had planned to pick up a VL Walkinshaw on Friday evening from her workplace, after Kevin promised to give her a lend of the vintage car for the weekend.  Former detective Damian Loone said: 'There's some suggestion of a Walkinshaw, she was going to have a Walkinshaw for the weekend.  And Kevin Correll, from the yard, her boss, may have promised her a Walkinshaw for the weekend. That would have sent her wild because she's a car enthusiast, particularly Commodores or Holdens.  If it's used as a ploy to lure you somewhere, then it is very significant. But we haven't ever found one.'

Within days of Rachelle's funeral Kevin was actually fired from his job because of a fraud scandal.  Kevin always denied defrauding Camden Holden and no charges had ever been laid in relation to those allegations.   He has also always denied any involvement in Rachelle's murder and has never been charged.  Police did look at other men in Rachelle's life as suspects, including her former boyfriend Shane however he was quickly ruled out because of a solid alibi.  Rachelle's neighbour Bruce was also a person of interest and Kristy said she was always wary of him because he had a wife and children but sent Rachelle flowers to her work.  Damian said: 'He's another one of certainly of interest where he's got some sort of romantic connections with Rachelle, and there's no secret there that he fancied her.  He admits that he had a thing for her, but nothing sexual, just a hug and a kiss here and there.  I think he was hoping for more, but I think she told him straight away that nothing else is going to happen.'

Kristy added: 'I've always been quite suspicious of Bruce because I just found him, I don't know, he just always gave me a bad vibe, I just didn't like him, and he always just sort of would turn up out of nowhere.'

After Rachelle's death Bruce packed up the family home and moved to Queensland with his wife and children, but years later, he was cleared as a person of interest during a coronial inquest.  New South Wales police have since reopened Rachelle's case.  Last month, Correll, who became the main suspect, was found dead in Thailand.

Anyone with information on Rachelle's death should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report online.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14959577/Marilyn-Manson-leads-rock-royalty-Ozzy-Osbournes-funeral-Black-Sabbath-star-laid-rest-grounds-mansion.html

Marilyn Manson leads rock royalty at Ozzy Osbourne's funeral as Black Sabbath star is laid to rest in grounds of his own mansion

    READ MORE: Sharon Osbourne's hidden tributes to late husband Ozzy
    READ MORE: Fans share heartwarming clips of the Osbournes

By KATHERINE LAWTON and AIDAN RADNEDGE and NICK FAGGE

Published: 16:12, 31 July 2025 | Updated: 17:07, 31 July 2025

Marilyn Manson has led the stars arriving at Ozzy Osbourne's private funeral this afternoon as the heavy metal icon is laid to rest.  The Black Sabbath frontman, who died aged 76 on July 22, is being buried in the grounds of his own mansion in Buckinghamshire as he had said he desired.  Ozzy's widow Sharon and their children were joined by heavy rock icons at today's event at the family's home near Gerrards Cross, where he was being laid to rest near a lake ay the heart of the sprawling 250-acre estate.  Guests also included Manson's wife Lindsay Usich and Ozzy's lead guitarist Zakk Wylde.  And in true Ozzy fashion, stars arrived in gothic and heavy metal attire, with Rob Zombie donning skulls on a black scarf while Manson wore a long black jacket.   A huge floral tribute in the grounds of the mansion spells out an affectionate tribute to the heavy metal legend, with the words, 'OZZY F***ING OSBOURNE', on the banks of the Osbourne lake.  A version of a floral 'Ozzy' tribute that featured at yesterday's memorial procession was also placed atop a fountain.  Today's events follow a funeral procession attended by thousands of fans through Birmingham city centre on Wednesday.  Ozzy's widow Sharon, 72, was supported by their children Jack, Kelly and Aimee who laid floral tributes and made a peace sign as they gestured their gratitude to fans while accompanied by Ozzy's son Louis from his first marriage to Thelma Riley.  Floral tributes to the rock star first displayed at the public memorial in Birmingham yesterday were on show for the intimate farewell.  Goodwill messages have continued to pour in for Osbourne, who died aged 76 last week and had spoken in the past about his wishes for a lack of funeral fuss.  Speaking in 2011 about how he imagined his future send-off, the Black Sabbath legend said: 'I honestly don't care what they play at my funeral they can put on a medley of Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle and 'We Are The Diddymen' if it makes 'em happy. But I do want to make sure it's a celebration, not a mope-fest.'

The funeral cortege yesterday was led by a live brass band, Bostin' Brass, who performed versions of Black Sabbath songs such as Iron Man, as thousands of tearful devotees lined the streets and sang along in Ozzy's memory.  Today, marquees and a music stage had been erected next to pond where the private tributes were paid at his home.  Guests were seated under huge awnings due to the rain showers that had fallen earlier in the day - while catering facilities, with their own generators, were provided in the garden.  A huge security operation was in place from early this morning to ensure the ceremony was strictly invitation only, in accordance with widow Sharon's wishes.  A team of bodyguards and private security dog handlers patrolled the perimeter of the estate and traffic marshals directed traffic through the narrow country lane leading to the Osbourne estate.  However, diehard fans did leave flowers outside the gates to their rock idol.  Ozzy had spoken in 2011 about his funeral intentions, telling the Times: 'I want to make sure it's a celebration, not a mope-fest.  I'd also like some pranks - maybe the sound of knocking inside the coffin, or a video of me asking my doctor for a second opinion on his diagnosis of 'death'.  There'll be no harping on the bad times. It's worth remembering that a lot of people see nothing but misery their whole lives.  So by any measure, most of us in this country especially rock stars like me - are very lucky. That's why I don't want my funeral to be sad I want it to be a time to say, "Thanks".'

And he wrote in his autobiography I Am Ozzy, published in 2010: 'Eventually death will come, like it comes to everyone.  I've said to Sharon: 'Don't cremate me, whatever you do.' I want to be put in the ground, in a nice garden somewhere, with a tree planted over my head.  A crabapple tree, preferably, so the kids can make wine out of me and get p***ed out of their heads.  As for what they'll put on my headstone, I ain't under any illusions. If I close my eyes, I can already see it. Ozzy Osbourne, born 1948. Died, whenever. He bit the head off a bat.'

As things have transpired, huge crowds gathered along the route hours in advance of Wednesday's 1pm start to pay their respects to the Prince of Darkness whose hits included Paranoid and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.  The hearse carrying the singer's coffin - adorned with purple flowers spelling out 'Ozzy' - had passed the star's childhood home in Lodge Road, Aston, shortly after midday.  Flowers had been placed outside the terraced property, close to Villa Park while the owners of the house put up a picture of Osbourne in the front bay window.  The Jaguar hearse and six Mercedes funeral cars, accompanied by police motorcycle riders and a police car, drove slowly along the street watched by a handful of fans and the current owner of the house.  Thousands of people were pictured taking their places not only on Black Sabbath Bridge but along the city centre route along which his cortege travelled towards the Black Sabbath Bridge bench.  Elsewhere in London, the Coldstream Guards payed tribute to the heavy metal legend at the changing of the guard by performing their own rendition of his hit-song Paranoid.  Fans have left heartfelt messages and floral tributes around the Black Sabbath mural on Navigation Street in recent days to honour the heavy metal star who was born in the Aston area of Birmingham.  Members of the public have also signed a book of condolences, opened by Birmingham Museum And Art Gallery, which is currently holding an exhibition titled Ozzy Osbourne (1948-2025): Working Class Hero.  While organising the procession, Birmingham City Council collaborated with the Osbourne family, who funded all of the associated costs.  Ahead of today's follow-up service, the Sun quoted a source as saying: 'Singer Yungblud, who became close with Ozzy in recent years, is going to give a reading.  His Sabbath bandmates, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler, will be there, along with James Hetfield from Metallica.  Elton John is also hoping to join the family at the church.  Sharon and his family have been so touched by messages they received not only from Ozzy's friends, but also his fans around the world.'

Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates Butler with the nickname 'Geezer', Iommi and Ward were recently given the freedom of the city of Birmingham, which recognises people's exceptional service to the city.  The group, which formed in 1968, are widely credited with defining and popularising the sound of heavy metal.  Osbourne, who also had a successful solo career, found a new legion of fans when he appeared in the noughties reality TV series The Osbournes, starring alongside his wife Sharon and two youngest children, Kelly and Jack.  The music star, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019, performed his last gig on July 5 in a concert that also saw performances from the likes of Anthrax, Metallica and Guns N' Roses.  Ozzy took to the stage for his farewell concert at Villa Park stadium in his native Birmingham less than three weeks before his death - reuniting with his original Black Sabbath bandmates for the first time since 2005.  More than 42,000 fans packed into the venue for the Back To The Beginning show, during which he told the crowd in his final speech: 'You've no idea how I feel thank you from the bottom of my heart.'

A message on screen then read: 'Thank you for everything, you guys are f***ing amazing. Birmingham Forever,' before the sky lit up with fireworks.  He had told of it being his last performance due to his health, having opened up about his battle with Parkinson's in 2020.  In a statement shared last Tuesday, Ozzy's family said he died 'surrounded by love', adding: 'It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.'

He is survived by his wife Sharon and his five children Jessica, Louis, Aimee, Kelly and Jack.  Daily Mail revealed last Wednesday that an air ambulance was called to Osbourne's grand country home as paramedics battled to save his life for two hours.  Friends told the Mail's Alison Boshoff that his heartbroken wife Sharon was considering now burying Ozzy in the gardens of the 350-acre estate in an intimate family funeral.  Ozzy was born John Michael Osbourne in Birmingham in 1948, and dropped out of school at the age of 15.  After serving two months in prison for burglary, he decided to pursue his love of music.  By 1970, Black Sabbath originally going by the name of Earth had gained a huge following in the US and UK with the release of their first album.  Ozzy quit the band in 1978 and four years later divorced his first wife Thelma Mayfair, with whom he had two children, amid his ongoing substance abuse problems.  He went on to marry second wife Sharon, who helped him transform into a successful solo artist and the couple had three children together.  Ozzy gained a whole new audience of fans with the family's reality TV show The Osbournes in 2001.

https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2024/05/14/taking-time-to-seek-the-lord?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9jP5we6WZosibW35i5dWCZwC1IYfG5exEQpi9_rmxkEQ-Ubuh_1zn7eeOSh94J9ukgNoQiGXE_MM4bQxUfKASHVfjvPw&_hsmi=304533229&utm_content=304533229&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread

Taking Time To Seek the Lord
May 14, 2024
by Karen Ehman

“Sow righteousness for yourselves and reap faithful love; break up your unplowed ground. It is time to seek the LORD until he comes and sends righteousness on you like the rain.” Hosea 10:12 (CSB)

I hurriedly poured coffee into my travel mug, grabbed my purse, and dashed out yet another frustratingly late start to my day. The night before. I’d expectantly set my alarm, planning to rise early to spend time with God. But once again, I hopscotched over my best intentions and plunged right into another busy day.  Will you ever get your act together spiritually?

I scolded myself.  As a follower of Jesus, I understand how crucial it is to spend time studying the Bible, praying, and just being still in God’s presence each day. These are holy habits that help deepen my relationship with the Lord. Unfortunately, I must admit that even though I know how central it is to my spiritual life, I don’t always make time to seek the Lord.  Hosea 10:12 speaks about seeking the Lord in terms of growth and gardening. The prophet Hosea states, “Sow righteousness for yourselves and reap faithful love; break up your unplowed ground. It is time to seek the LORD until he comes and sends righteousness on you like the rain” (CSB).

The Hebrew word in this verse that translates to our English word “seek” is darash. It doesn’t just mean “to look at something or someone.” Its broad definition can mean any of the following: “to care for, to study, to inquire, to consult, to investigate, to question or to search diligently for.”

Isn’t this the goal of our time with Jesus?

We show Him our care and love as we praise Him. We study His words. We consult with Him, inquiring as to what we should do about various situations. We investigate Scripture, carefully searching for His will and asking Him questions about following hard after Him.  Additionally much like gardeners we need to be patient, allowing the seeds that we sow to reap a harvest of faithful love. Sometimes we need to break up the unplowed ground, exploring new territory with the Lord. Sometimes this territory is fertile, and other times it may be frightening. But He is there all along.  As we seek the Lord, He “sends righteousness on [us] like the rain” (Hosea 10:12).

These times refresh and renew us, making us grow. Just thinking of time with God in these terms can cause us to desire to meet with Him.  And on the days we fall short, we don’t need to beat ourselves up. God longs to connect with us, not to keep track of our missed meetings as a record of shame. Let’s grant ourselves the loving grace He offers us when needed.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14380713/Heartbreaking-story-recluse-mother-looked-severely-disabled-daughter-let-died.html

Frail recluse who was found wheeling her dead daughter's corpse through London shopping centre

By JAMES FIELDING

Published: 16:32, 10 February 2025 | Updated: 16:00, 11 February 2025

Walking through a busy London shopping centre, pushing her disabled adult daughter Tracey in her wheelchair, Joan Turnell initially looked completely unremarkable and didn’t attract a second glance from other shoppers.  Indeed the half-mile journey, from the housing association flat they shared in Leyton to the supermarket and coffee shop in nearby Walthamstow, was one the pair had made on many previous occasions just not for some time.  But if the appearance of the pair was entirely mundane, there was one detail that betrayed that they were far from normal the overpoweringly strong smell emanating from the wheelchair the frail old lady was laboriously pushing.  And it was this detail that led to the Turnells being pointed out to uniformed police officers who approached Mrs Turnell, only to make the most disturbing discovery: Tracey had been dead for over a year and her mother was wheeling around her corpse.  This extraordinary scenario which saw Joan being immediately sectioned under the Mental Health Act occurred in November 2023 but only came to wider attention earlier this week when details of the inquest into Tracey’s death in January emerged publicly.  At that hearing East London Coroners Court was critical of the local authority’s dealings with the Turnells in the years leading up to Tracey's death.  But the inquest still left many questions about how 77-year-old Mrs Turnell’s life had taken such a strange direction that she had become a recluse.  So, in an attempt to answer some of these questions, MailOnline has attempted to piece together the story of Joan’s life and it makes for strange and disturbing reading.  Joan, seen here in the only known picture of either mother or daughter, on her wedding day over 50 years ago, was born in Kent in 1946.   But she and her older sister are thought to have been brought up in the same areas of north east London where her macabre story took place.  Joan’s father William Switzer was a TV cabinet maker for then popular brand PYE and they led a conventional family life at various homes in the London suburbs with her mum Rita ruling the roost.  Certainly Joan was living in Walthamstow when she met the man who would become her first husband Alan Salsbury.  It was Mr Salsbury, now aged 81 and living near Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire, who shared the black and white picture taken on their wedding day.  He told MailOnline how they first met, in 1960:cords in the front room.  One day her older sister Pat invited me in and that’s how we met.  I was 17 and Joan was 15.’

Soon they were dating and their relationship was formalised in the wedding scene shown here in Waltham Forest in the spring of 1967.  But Joan’s father had suffered a debilitating industrial accident at his television factory and was seriously ill in the months leading up to the wedding before disaster struck days later.  Alan explained: ‘Her father had developed a brain condition following his accident at work.  And he died while we were on our honeymoon in the Norfolk Broads. It was quite sudden.’

Joan was very close to her father and was rocked by his abrupt death and its timing, he said.  He continued: ‘‘I often wonder if that mentally scarred her.  Afterwards her mother asked me to move into their home with Joan and so I became the man of the house.’

But the newlyweds’ marriage would not last long - according to Alan his bride’s head was turned by a rival, one William Turnell, who was five years Joan’s senior.  She had met Bill at The Crooked Billet pub in Walthamstow and was soon in love.  Alan continued; ‘Not long into marriage, Joan fell for Bill and that was that. We soon divorced and I Iost contact with her.’

Soon after that divorce came through Joan would marry a second time, to Mr Turnell, in Havering, Essex in December 1971 the man whose name she still carries.  And Tracey was born to the couple the following October, again in Waltham Forest.  But her arrival meant more challenges for Joan because Tracey was born with severe physical disabilities, including a curved spine, damaged knee and deformed arms, with limited mobility.  Complications arising from her various health issues beset her childhood and consumed Joan’s time.  The couple would not have any more children.  Alan, who later remarried himself and went on to have two daughters, believes their divorce was the catalyst for Joan beginning to become withdrawn from the world despite now having her own family.  Because, according to Alan, Joan’s marrying a second time would lead to her becoming estranged from her own family.  I found out later that her mum liked me but never felt the same about Bill. And apparently that drove a wedge between her and Joan.  Joan told her that if she couldn’t accept Bill she couldn’t see her granddaughter. I think they were estranged for a while.’

This version of events was confirmed by another member of Joan’s wider family who said she could be combative and that this didn’t sit well with her sometimes domineering mother, Rita.  Rita, who astonishingly lived to the age of 103, only finally passing away in 2021, is even understood to have removed Joan’s name from her will, so intense was their feud.  But despite this turbulent backdrop, Joan’s second marriage proved more enduring than her first but if it was the first stage in her becoming a recluse that was certainly exacerbated when Bill died in 2010.  After Bill’s death Joan and Tracey moved through various social housing addresses, first in neighbouring Leytonstone and then in Leyton.  It was here that Joan and Tracey who was by now in her early fifties and completely dependent on her increasingly frail mother were living when the events heard by the coroner this week unfolded.  Their address was a modern purpose-built block of flats close to local landmark Whipps Cross Hospital.  Their ground floor property is understood to have been set aside for residents with disabilities and had three bedrooms one more than the homes above in case carers needed to stay over.  But, it’s increasingly clear, there were no carers.  Joan was becoming a total recluse and looking after her daughter only in the most rudimentary way according to one of the few people who ever spoke to them in this period.  She refused any offer of help and instead cut herself and her daughter off from the world avoiding social services workers as well as offers of friendship.  That is the recollection of a longtime neighbour who was appalled by what she gradually realised were their appalling living conditions.  Speaking on condition of anonymity, the neighbour explained how she first came to know Joan and Tracey after regularly encountering the pair on their walks when she she was taking her own daughter to school.  She recalled: ‘I was a stay-at-home mum when I first met them and so I had a lot of spare time and I’d go over to see if they wanted any help.  Joan didn’t have much in the way of food.  They’d eat snacks mainly, not proper meals. Joan said she liked taking Tracey to the supermarket everyday and buying her a tea from one of the coffee shops.  They’d both say to me “You’re our only friend” and it was kind of sad but true because they kept themselves to themselves most of the time and didn’t tend to mix with people too much.  Any time I’d try to help Joan she’d come up with an excuse.  I could see she was struggling and I offered to call social services and see if they could offer any help, even getting Tracey a new wheelchair because the one she had was broken it looked like it could’ve been picked up from the side of the road somewhere.  But each time Joan would refuse and say they were better off alone and it would only make things worse.  Joan would always wear the same tatty old clothes and I said to her once “look I’ve got a wardrobe full of stuff I don’t wear anymore do you want some bits?”  She looked at me in horror and said nothing but I knew I’d offended her and she was never the same with me after that even sometimes trying to avoid me.  The place was in a really bad state. Joan smoked a lot and just let the ash from her cigarette drop onto the carpet which was literally black with dirt.  Their flat was really cluttered too, there wasn’t a lot of space to move around.  But they never had anyone come in and look after them. It was just them and they were always together, never apart.’

This only friend, having done what she could to try to help struggling Joan, soon disappeared from their lives too.  She continued: ‘I started going to university and then working so I saw them less and less.  ‘Eventually I stopped seeing Tracey altogether but assumed that the wheelchair had broken completely so she couldn’t get out anywhere.’

Which brings us to the events of November 2023.  The best account of what happened then comes from Joan herself.  In a short written statement made to the Coroner’s Court, Joan denied causing her daughter’s death.  Describing the day Tracey died, on a day some 14 months earlier, Joan said that she and her daughter had watched a film together.  When the film ended, she attempted to speak to Tracey but received no response.  Joan was unable to remember the exact date of Tracey’s death but believed it to be around September of 2022.  She made no attempt to formally report the death, explaining: ‘I kept Tracey with me because I couldn’t bear to part with her. I loved her too much.’

‘I did not cause my daughter’s death,’ her statement for the coroner continued. ‘I do not know what caused my daughter’s death.  I did not call for an ambulance because I knew that they couldn’t help.’

That decision would inevitably be unsustainable and soon neighbours began to report a strong smell that seemed to emanate from their flat.  Their next door neighbour who only gave his name as Kiri said: ‘Tracey had lived there with her mum Joan for at least ten years.  They were inseparable you’d never see them apart. Joan used to take Tracey out practically every day in her wheelchair.’

Kiri said even before the events of November it had been obvious his neighbours needed help: ‘They wore the same clothes day in, day out.  You’d know that the clothes hadn’t been washed properly, just sort of run through with cold water.  Tracey was thin, frail and very pale.  She went everywhere in a wheelchair.  Joan was a small lady as well and would really struggle to push her. She didn’t have the strength, if you blew on her she’d probably fall over.’

But sometime in the late summer or early autumn of 2023, things changed.  Kiri went on: ‘Suddenly Tracey wasn’t around any more and Joan would be going out on her own.  I stopped her a few times and asked if Tracey was ok and where she was and Joan always replied “She’s lying down inside” and left it at that.  There was one time when I bumped into Joan as I came through the entrance to the block and she was in her doorway.  We started talking but when I stepped a bit nearer towards her, she got really defensive and closed the door over as if to warn me off.  It was strange, but she clearly didn’t want me anywhere near the flat.’

Soon he began to suspect the truth: ‘Nobody knew for sure what was causing the smell but I had a suspicion it was Tracey and that she was dead inside the flat.  It was the smell of death and it’s not something you forget.  We complained three times to the caretaker who raised the matter with the housing association but nothing ever seemed to be done about it.’

Even before Tracey’s death, the housing association L&Q Group had been alerted to the increasingly decrepit state of the flat.  In August 2022 a month before Tracey is thought to have died a gas engineer who had noticed the smell while working in their back had raised concerns.  Housing staff attempted to visit to inquire but no one answered the door and their policy meant they could not enter the flat without consent and so made a referral to Waltham Forest council.  Following further complaints about the bad smell, housing officers once again attempted to speak to Joan on the morning of November 7, 2023 but she refused to let them inside.  This incident seems to have prompted her macabre walk with her daughter’s corpse: in a misguided attempt to convince the authorities that Tracey was still alive, Joan apparently decided to take her daughter out.  She left their home shortly after the official visit, wheeling her deceased daughter’s body, which was almost entirely shrouded in a large hooded red coat in a crude attempt to disguise its status.  Joan, as she had many times previously, wheeled Tracey to a nearby shopping centre, the 17 & Central in Walthamstow.  Unbeknown to her, she was being followed by those now extremely suspicious housing officers.  When they noticed the same powerful smell that neighbours had reported to them, they called 999.  Joan was soon stopped by two uniformed Metropolitan police officers outside a Peacocks clothing store and asked if she could follow them to a more private location, a relatively secluded car park nearby.  It was there that one of the officers lifted the hood of Tracey’s coat and discovered her already decomposing body which was already in a state that meant pathologists were later unable to determine a precise cause of death.  One of those officers was DC Emma Roberts.  She told the inquest that Mrs Turnell had asked her and her police colleagues: ‘Why can’t they just leave us alone? We have been fine and I have been looking after her.’

When officers went to her home they found it ‘extremely hazardous’ as it was so unclean.  In the investigation that followed, it was determined that Tracey appeared to have had no close friends or romantic partners.  She did not own a phone and police were unable to source a single photograph of her, in the flat or on any social media, meaning she had to be identified by DNA.  Joan was later diagnosed with ‘prolonged grief disorder’ and was also found to be suffering from a brain tumour.  She was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and a decision was taken that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute her for preventing the unlawful burial of her daughter’s body.  Coroner Graeme Irvine told the court why he had decided to allow her to make only a written statement: ‘I found it inhumane to summons Mrs Turnell to give live evidence. I don’t think the nature and quality of her evidence would have assisted me.’

He added that he had concluded that Joan had ‘severe mental health problems’.  Mr Irvine gave Waltham Forest Council 28 days to respond to questions about their handling of the case, adding: ‘The very tragic and concerning circumstances under which Ms Turnell’s death was discovered have caused me grave concerns,’.

Cllr Louise Mitchell, Cabinet Member for Adults and Health at Waltham Forest, said: ‘The details at the centre of this tragic incident are extremely saddening.  We owe it to Tracey and Joan to ensure the lessons of this case are learned and that we are doing everything within our power to prevent it happening again.’

Joan’s older sister, who is now 82, married and lives in Hertfordshire, did not respond to our approach.  Joan’s former neighbour and friend summed up her feelings on learning of what would happen to the pair: ‘It’s so sad.  Joan obviously couldn’t bear to leave her daughter even when she’d died. I just wish she’d accepted the help but she just shut them both away.’

But perhaps the final word should go to Joan’s former husband who hadn’t heard any news of her in decades until this week.  ‘I didn’t know Tracey had died nor that Joan hadn’t been well. I find it shocking and very very sad,’ he said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14094575/British-brothers-tsunami-killed-parents-20-years.html

British brothers who were just 11 and 16 when the Boxing Day tsunami swept them away and killed their parents recall how they fought for their lives in the deadly tide which killed 220,000 almost 20 years ago

By EMILY JANE DAVIES

Published: 01:29, 18 November 2024 | Updated: 02:27, 18 November 2024

British brothers have opened up about 'fighting for their lives' during a tsunami that killed their parents.  It's been 20 years since the disaster that killed more than 220,000 people after a huge earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2 - 9.3 struck the coast of Indonesia.  The devastating December 26 2004 tsunami struck a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean rim, eradicated entire coastal communities, decimated families and crashed over tourist-filled beaches, with survivors wading through a horror show of corpse-filled waters.  Leonard Barratt, 50, and Catherine Mullan, 53, from Cornwall, were among those who sadly lost their lives in Thailand when waves of up to 30 metres struck.  Their children Louis and Theo were 16 and 11 at the time and were separated but managed to survive.  In a new National Geographic documentary Tsunami: Race Against Time, the brothers speak of the traumatic experience.  Louis recalls 'holding on to each other' and described the tsunami as 'scary'.  He said: 'We were going out on a snorkelling trip and then dad came to our room to grab us and say, there's something happening on the waterfront, to come have a look.  When we got there, we could see that the water receded quite far, and you could just see kind of a bubbling sea in the distance but no one knew what was going on at that stage.'

He and Theo ran to lock their room and about 20 seconds later returned to find that 'panic had set in', before the water quickly caught up with them.  'Theo and I were holding on to each other, and then the water just became too deep, and we were at our depth and then we got separated, and then we both went our separate ways through the water.'

Thankfully, they later managed to find each other and set out to look for their parents.  The boys were in Thailand for several days before they flew back to the UK without their parents.  They were later adopted by a family in Cornwall. 

Tsunami: Race Against Time premieres November 25 at 9pm on National Geographic and will be available for streaming on Disney+ the same day.