GAIA INQUEST: Dorset teen's family called Police multiple times before she disappeared
Gaia Pope's family called police five times trying to get details of an appointment she'd made
Last updated 12th May 2022
An inquest into the death of Dorset teenager Gaia Pope has been hearing evidence from her aunt today (Thursday 12th May).
The hearing was told Talia Pope had made multiple phone calls to police on the day she disappeared.
Talia had phoned the control room five times on the morning of November 11th 2017, to try to confirm the arrangements for her niece to speak to an officer about an allegation of receiving indecent images via Facebook.
The 19 year old from Swanage, who suffered from severe epilepsy, was reported missing later that day.
Gaia had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after revealing she had been raped by a man when she was 16 and was worried about his release from prison.
Dorset Coroner's Court was played the series of calls Talia Pope made to Dorset Police about the meeting.
In the fifth call, the handler speaks to an officer at Wareham police station saying she has Ms Pope on the line about her niece.
In the call, the officer replies:
"This is the fifth call I've had. The last call ended with them talking absolute rubbish.
"I have no idea who they are, what they are on about and they started calling me a drag queen, so I decided at that point to hang up.
"I've asked control not to put any more calls through.
"If they are there, put them through and I'll see if I can get some more sense out of them."
In an earlier call, a control room handler speaks to an officer at Wareham police station.
While laughing, the call handler says: "She's calling in regard to her niece Gaia, is that right?"
The officer replies: "Yeah, this is the fourth time I've spoken to her today, I have no idea what she's on about. Put her through and I'll try and help her."
The jury heard officers could not find any records of earlier calls because they were searching on the system for 'Gaia Hope'.
They did find a report but believed it was to do with the alleged rape the teenager reported in 2015 and said it would be a matter for Weymouth CID.
In a call made shortly after midday, Ms Pope is told by the call handler that an officer would ring her on her mobile phone about the complaint to arrange a meeting at her home or a police station.
Ms Pope told the court that when her niece received the indecent images from a man via Facebook it was a "trigger" for her:
"Her anxiety soared, and she was absolutely obsessed with being actively listened to about the images and making a formal report about them."
Miss Pope-Sutherland contacted police on November 2nd to make a complaint and was due to meet with officers to make a formal statement on the day she disappeared.
The court heard that on November 6th, Ms Pope made three calls to Dorset Police to confirm the arrangements for the following day with her niece.
On November 7th, Talia Pope made five calls to Dorset Police in the morning to try to confirm what time she would bring her niece to the police station that afternoon.
She told the inquest:
"I wasn't going to give up until I had the finer details and knew what was ahead of us because of how important I perceived it to be for Gaia's mental health and the pressure I could see building up."
Ms Pope drove to her brother's house where Miss Pope-Sutherland had been staying and said her niece's behaviour that morning was "chaotic" and "highly sexualised".
"She needed help. She had quite a bit of medical help, but we were still back, I am sorry to say, to square one," she said.
She said she collected her belongings and took the teenager back to her home, as her uncle and mother were due to be away.
After the college student was reported missing, a large search operation was launched in the Swanage area for the teenager, including police, HM Coastguard, the National Police Air Service, Dorset Search and Rescue, and members of the public.
On November 18, her body was found by police search teams in undergrowth between Dancing Ledge and Anvil Point.
The inquest continues.