ONE of two teenage girls found hanged in bushland east of Melbourne yesterday had written on her website: "Let Steph n me b free."
Police believe the girl, Jodie Gater, and her friend Stephanie Gestier, both 16, died in a suicide pact after they left their homes about 9.30am on April 15, ostensibly to go shopping.
A resident of Ferntree Gully made the grisly discovery of the two dead girls hanging from a tree yesterday afternoon. Their bodies were suspended from the one branch by the same piece of rope with two nooses tied in it. The bodies were low to the ground and facing each other.
Sergeant Andrew Herdman from Belgrave police said the man who found the girls at first thought he saw a "couple of people who were getting quite close and comfortable. On second glance about half an hour later, he realised they were still in the same spot, went to investigate, and located two females," Sergeant Herdman said.
The deaths are a tragic end to an excruciating week for the families of the two girls, who had pleaded for public assistance to find them. They initially believed the girls might have run away with people they had met over the internet, but late yesterday were notified of the deaths.
The families made no comment last night, but last Wednesday Jodie's father, Robert Gater, expressed concern about his daughter's use of internet chat sites. "With the use of the internet, she keeps using MSN Messenger and MySpace stuff ... it's hard to keep track of exactly what's spoken," Mr Gater said.
Those same MySpace sites last night offered tributes to the two girls as news spread that they had been found dead.
Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.
Counselling for troubled young people is available at:
Lifeline: 131 114
Kids Help Line: 1800 55 1800
Suicide Prevention Crisis Line: (02) 9331 2000
