Dartmoor deaths: Mum and son fall 100ft from rocks then younger brother found dead at home
Tragedy: Kat Hooper and her son Samuel
SWNS
Dartmoor deaths: Mum and son fall 100ft from rocks then younger brother found dead at home
A mum was last night feared to have killed her toddler son at home and then thrown herself 100ft off a beauty spot with his five-year-old brother.
The bodies of the mother, 24, and her elder son were yesterday found at the foot of Haytor, a granite outcrop in Dartmoor National Park.
At that stage the deaths were thought to be accidental.
But hours later police found the body of the woman’s younger son in their family home nine miles away.
Last night the family were named locally as mum Kat Hooper, five-year-old Joshua and Samuel, two.
Det Supt Paul Burgan said: “We are keeping an open mind but not looking for anyone else.”
He added there was “nothing obvious” in the house to suggest a cause of death.
The mother’s home, in the seaside resort of Paignton, south Devon, was cordoned off last night while investigators tried to establish what killed Samuel, who was said to have been found in his bed.
They also wanted to know why she then took Joshua to Haytor, which attracts many thousands of visitors each year.
Foreign tourists were among witnesses who suggested the mother placed the lad on her shoulders before leaping off.
Emergency teams rushed to the site, on the eastern edge of the National Park near Newton Abbot race course.
Acting Chief Insp Adrian Leisk said: “Sadly, we discovered the body of a 24-year-old lady and a young child. It appears they fell 80-100ft.
"Postmortems are expected to be carried out over the weekend.”
Police said next of kin had been informed and last night a relative arrived at Ms Hooper’s home in tears.
Next door neighbour Jonathan Grant, 28, said Ms Hooper was just getting her life back together after splitting from the father of her sons.
He said: “I am horrified. Kat could not drive so I don’t know how she got up to Haytor with Joshy.
“The boys were lovely and played with my girls. Kat had rented there for three years. She was bubbly and worked at a hotel with my partner.”
His partner Tracey Cole, 42, said Ms Hooper was trying to get to grips with money worries.
Another neighbour said she may have had “issues” but added: “That doesn’t give anyone the right to take their children with them in this way.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact 101, quoting log 316 of 120713.
A mum was last night feared to have killed her toddler son at home and then thrown herself 100ft off a beauty spot with his five-year-old brother.
The bodies of the mother, 24, and her elder son were yesterday found at the foot of Haytor, a granite outcrop in Dartmoor National Park.
At that stage the deaths were thought to be accidental.
But hours later police found the body of the woman’s younger son in their family home nine miles away.
Last night the family were named locally as mum Kat Hooper, five-year-old Joshua and Samuel, two.
Det Supt Paul Burgan said: “We are keeping an open mind but not looking for anyone else.”
He added there was “nothing obvious” in the house to suggest a cause of death.
The mother’s home, in the seaside resort of Paignton, south Devon, was cordoned off last night while investigators tried to establish what killed Samuel, who was said to have been found in his bed.
They also wanted to know why she then took Joshua to Haytor, which attracts many thousands of visitors each year.
Foreign tourists were among witnesses who suggested the mother placed the lad on her shoulders before leaping off.
Emergency teams rushed to the site, on the eastern edge of the National Park near Newton Abbot race course.
Acting Chief Insp Adrian Leisk said: “Sadly, we discovered the body of a 24-year-old lady and a young child. It appears they fell 80-100ft.
"Postmortems are expected to be carried out over the weekend.”
Police said next of kin had been informed and last night a relative arrived at Ms Hooper’s home in tears.
Next door neighbour Jonathan Grant, 28, said Ms Hooper was just getting her life back together after splitting from the father of her sons.
He said: “I am horrified. Kat could not drive so I don’t know how she got up to Haytor with Joshy.
“The boys were lovely and played with my girls. Kat had rented there for three years. She was bubbly and worked at a hotel with my partner.”
His partner Tracey Cole, 42, said Ms Hooper was trying to get to grips with money worries.
Another neighbour said she may have had “issues” but added: “That doesn’t give anyone the right to take their children with them in this way.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact 101, quoting log 316 of 120713.
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