“She was one of the most wonderful people on this planet and my life will be less without her.”
Those were the words on Wednesday of Frank Gilmore‚ the ex-boyfriend of 25-year-old South African Carla van Eeden‚ who was found dead in a Bahamas hotel.
Van Eeden’s body was found in the five-star Atlantis hotel on Paradise Island in the Bahamas last week.
Local news outlets reported that police found her body hanging by a cord at the back of the bathroom door.
Bahamas News Ma Bey wrote: “We have an apparent suicide at Royal Towers. The deceased is one 25 year old Carla Van Eeden of South Africa. She arrived in the Bahamas on the 14/05/18.
“She was found with a cord hanging around her neck behind the bathroom door of her room. She is clad in a light and dark blue all-in-one pajamas.”
Cape Town lawyer William Booth‚ who was contacted by the family to help them deal with the local police‚ told TimesLIVE: “The details that I’m aware of is first of all she was found dead in her hotel room and she had been on a yacht‚ and had left the yacht and was staying over for some holiday period on the island and would then be going to the United States on further vacation.
“She’d been a crew member on a particular yacht‚ which she’s done before‚ and we’re not sure what led to any of this and what exactly the cause of death was and we’d have to wait for the autopsy report.
“It’s quite unexpected‚ the death. I mean they’re all extremely shocked as a result of this. There was no indication that she could die.”
Booth said Van Eeden's family did not want to speculate on the cause of her death before speaking to police and getting the autopsy results.
Van Eeden’s two brothers left for the Bahamas on Monday‚ but Booth said before her body could be repatriated to South Africa the police would have to conduct a thorough investigation.
When contacted on Facebook‚ Gilmore — Van Eeden’s ex-boyfriend of three years — told TimesLIVE he had last spoken to her via instant message about a month ago.
He did not want to give any further comment except for saying: “She was one of the most wonderful people on this planet and my life will be less without her”.
Van Eeden’s Facebook profile paints a picture of a bubbly young woman who had travelled extensively‚ recently attending the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in California. She had also travelled to Mexico and London.
Jeffreys Bay resident Deon Meyer posted condolences on the Jeffreys Bay online Facebook page.
He wrote: “Sad news that I would like to share as the mother (Kathy van Eeden) was a well-known resident and most of the children grew up here and attended our schools. Our deepest sympathy and condolences.”
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