Madeline Sara Wells

Madeline Sara Wells was found dead in the sea.

It was thought that she had died before she had entered the water.

Her body was found in the water just off Shakespeare Cliff.

She had been a barmaid engaged at the Railway Hotel in Beckenham.

Her parents said that on the day before her body was found they had received a most cheerful letter from her. They said that she was perfectly healthy in mind and body and that she had no acquaintances at Dover and that she had never been there before in her life.

On her body, the police found a clipped ticket from Beckenham to London.

It was said that although she had been in Beckenham at about 5pm on the Friday evening, she had been in Dover later that night and the Coroner suggested that she had gone down in a motor car. When she had started out she was said to have been in good spirits and had told her fellow barmaid that she would not be late back.

When she was found she had a bruise on her right arm but the post-mortem said that it was unable to state that her death had been caused by drowning and it was later stated that it was thought that she had died before she reached the water. They said that her face and general condition was not such as was usually found in a drowned person.

At her inquest, an open verdict was returned to the effect that she was found dead in the sea and that there was no evidence to show how she had got there.

She was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and very good looking.