A devastated father has paid an emotional tribute after three sisters were found dead in the sea off Brighton beach in a tragedy that has left communities across the UK heartbroken and searching for answers.

The women — identified as Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31 — were recovered from the water near Madeira Drive in Brighton during the early hours of May 13 after emergency services responded to reports of concern for a person in the sea.

Now, their grieving father Joseph has spoken publicly for the first time, describing the sisters as “the beautiful light” of his family and revealing the unbearable pain left behind by the tragedy.

“Jane, Christina, and Becky were more than daughters to me; they were my joy, my strength and the beautiful light that filled our family with happiness and love,” he said in a heartbreaking statement released through Sussex Police.

He continued by describing each daughter individually, remembering their warmth, kindness, laughter, and the emotional impact they had on everyone around them.

Emergency crews were first called to Brighton beach at approximately 5:45am after reports of someone in the water. What initially appeared to involve one individual quickly escalated into a major rescue operation after three bodies were discovered near the shoreline.

The incident triggered a huge emergency response involving Sussex Police, HM Coastguard, RNLI lifeboats, helicopters, and specialist rescue teams.

Authorities say there is currently no evidence suggesting criminal involvement or third-party actions, though investigators continue examining the full circumstances surrounding the sisters’ deaths.

Police are reportedly reviewing hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and retracing the sisters’ final known movements around the Brighton seafront area. Detectives have appealed for anyone who may have seen the women between 10pm on May 12 and 5:30am the following morning to come forward.

One theory reportedly being explored is that one of the sisters may have accidentally slipped into deeper water near the steep shingle shelf close to the shoreline, with the others possibly entering the sea in an attempt to help.

Local coastguard sources warned that the Brighton beachfront can become extremely dangerous because of sudden underwater drops hidden beneath the pebbled shoreline.

Witnesses also reported rough sea conditions during the night of the tragedy.

The deaths have deeply shaken Brighton residents, with flowers, candles, and handwritten tributes now appearing along the seafront.

One emotional message left near the beach reportedly read: “I can’t begin to imagine how scared you felt girls.”

Chief Superintendent Adam Hays of Sussex Police described the case as “utterly heartbreaking” and promised investigators would leave “no stone unturned” while searching for answers.

As the investigation continues, the tragedy has left many people struggling to comprehend how three sisters who left home together never returned.

And for one grieving father, the loss has created what he described as “an emptiness words cannot heal.”