Kate Downey, Bereaved Girlfriend Of Drowned John-Paul Conley, Found Dead In Hotel

Bereaved Girlfriend Of Drowned Man Found Dead In Hotel

The girlfriend of a man swept away while swimming in a river in Laos has been found dead in a hotel room.

Kate Downey, from Middlesbrough, has died just a few months after her boyfriend John-Paul Conley was killed in the Asian country as the pair travelled the world together.

At the time well-wishers raised more than £30,000 to fund searches of the area which included helicopter sweeps in a bid to search for the 35-year-old.

Kate Downey has died just a few months after her boyfriend John-Paul Conley was killed

But the four day search ended in tragedy when his body was found on a beach along the river.

The police confirmed Downey's body was discovered in a hotel room on Saturday, just days before a charity event had been planned in her boyfriend's memory.

On an internet tribute page, her brother Lee wrote: "For those who knew them Kate Downey and John-Paul Conley are now together forever.

"The pain and loss has proved too much for Kate to bear."

A post on the charity event Facebook page said it had been cancelled due to the tragic news.

"In light of the tragic news this weekend Friday night will obviously not be going ahead at such a terrible time for both families and loved ones of Kate and John Paul, our thoughts and love are with them all," it said.

Northumbria Police said they believed there was no third party involvement and a report was being prepared for the coroner.

A spokesman said: "At 12.25pm on Saturday, March 15, police were informed of concern for a woman in a hotel room in the Premier Inn on Ponteland Road in Woolsington.

"Police and paramedics attended and a woman in her 30s was pronounced dead at the scene. There is believed to be no third party involvement and a report will be prepared for the coroner."

If you've been affected by this story, help is available. Call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or visit http://www.samaritans.org/

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