A heartbroken mother has told an inquest how she used a Find My Phone app to discover her missing teenage daughter’s body.
Abi Oliver, 18, died by suicide in a west London park near Chiswick House on 27 January, 2018.
She had told her mum she was going to meet friends ahead of her tragic death, which followed years of mental health struggles in ‘one of the most distressing cases’ the coroner had seen.
Abi spent a year in various hospitals including six months spent in a psychiatric unit in Manchester, which her family raised concerns about because it meant she was hundreds of miles away from her friends and relatives.
On the day of her death, a group had rallied together to search for Abi when she failed to return home, using the Find My Phone app to trace GPS signals from her phone.
After finding her daughter, mum Tasha Oliver performed CPR until the emergency services arrived but they were unable to save Abi. She later died at West Middlesex Hospital.
In a statement read aloud to West London Coroners’ Court, Tasha said: ‘I was happy that Abi had made plans to meet with friends on her own as Abi had been suffering with long term depression and anxiety.
‘Abi planning to meet a friend was good because she would not even go to the shops with me.’
The teenager told her mum she would cut through the grounds of Chiswick House before the pair walked their separate ways.
Her mother became concerned when she failed to return home and received no reply when she texted to say: ‘Are you okay? Love mum.’
In her statement, Tasha: ‘I was unsure how long to leave her. I did not want to pressure her. I even texted my friend asking how long to leave it.
‘I zoomed in on the (Find My Phone) map and it showed Abi being in the grounds of Chiswick House.’
Abi’s family questioned guidelines in place for patients transitioning from child to adult mental health care units and said they did not want more children to fall into a ‘black hole’ in the system.
Coroner Sean Cummings said he may contact the government regarding potential improvements for mental health services for young people after the family’s comments.
He added: ‘I am going to consider whether it would be useful for me to report to the secretary of state in terms of provisions of mental health for young people.’
Mr Cummings concluded Abi’s death was a result of suicide.