Extraordinary new questions have been raised following the mysterious and tragic death of a schoolgirl who committed suicide, with her family insisting she must have committed a crime.
The body of 15-year-old Eden Westbrook was found hanging in Fisherman’s Memorial Park in the coastal town of St Helens, north-east Tasmania, on February 18, 2015.
The teenager had stormed out of her house after an argument with her parents over the use of her mobile phone the night before.
Her frantic family spent hours scouring the streets looking for Eden before her body was found hanging from a tree in a high street park early the next morning.
The following year, a coroner ruled that Eden had committed suicide.
Nine years later, Jason and Amanda Westbrook are convinced their daughter did not take her own life and believe something more sinister must have happened to her.
Many challenging questions arose when Channel Nine under investigation The program examined Eden’s death on Tuesday night, including why CCTV was not made available as part of the police investigation.
The body of 15-year-old Eden Westbrook was found hanging in Fisherman’s Memorial Park in the coastal town of St Helens, north-east Tasmania, on February 18, 2015.
The issue of missing CCTV is very disturbing for Eden’s parents, who claim there were many cameras in the area that could have captured their teenager’s final movements.
There were security cameras on the route Eden would have taken to Fisherman’s Memorial Park, including the local skate park.
There were also cameras along the St Helens seafront and at the police station less than 50 meters from where Eden’s body was discovered.
“The BP gas station, there’s the dock,” Mr. Westbrook said.
‘There are companies that have their surveillance cameras on at night.
“You know, it just doesn’t make sense.”
The coroner’s report does not mention any CCTV or any footage provided by police.
The program also revealed that Eden’s parents were informed that a local police officer knew the teenager had been captured on CCTV on the morning of her death.
Eden’s father, Jason Westbrook, said there were many CCTV cameras in the area that could have captured his daughter’s final movements. A recreation shown in Under Investigation is shown.
The issue of missing CCTV is very disturbing for Eden’s parents Jason and Amanda Westbrook (pictured).
Westbrook also said the police officer had told him that CCTV cameras at the skate park revealed Eden was with an older woman.
“When I heard that, Liz, I almost fell to the ground,” Westbrook told host Liz Hayes.
‘Because I’m thinking, who is this older woman with my daughter at 2 in the morning?
“We’ve never seen those images…they’ve denied those images,” Westbrook said.
The program revealed that in a subsequent review of the police operation it was learned that there was CCTV footage, but due to its poor quality, the images could not be viewed properly.
Another police officer who was allegedly aware of the existence of CCTV footage was Eden’s parents’ police contact, Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds, who allegedly did not pass any available CCTV to the coroner.
Senior Sergeant Reynolds had a 40-year career with Tasmania Police but took his own life in 2018 following a brief investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse and harassment.
The program also reported that police have not spoken to the woman believed to have been captured on security cameras.
Tasmania Police have rejected allegations of failings in the police investigation, including the decision not to interview the woman believed to be on CCTV.
‘We just want answers as a family… I am an expert on Eden, she was my daughter. And I can assure you that she did not leave my house that night to take her life,” Mr. Westbrook said.
Unanswered questions about Eden Westbrook’s mysterious death (pictured)
