INQUESTS into the deaths of Joanne Coombs and her daughter Natasha, who were killed by trains near Manningtree, were due to take place today.Their family, including Mrs Coombs husband and Natasha's father Gary, were due to discover the circumstances of their deaths during hearings at Shire Hall in Chelmsford.

INQUESTS into the deaths of Joanne Coombs and her daughter Natasha, who were killed by trains near Manningtree, were due to take place today.

Their family, including Mrs Coombs husband and Natasha's father Gary, were due to discover the circumstances of their deaths during hearings at Shire Hall in Chelmsford.

Joanne, 40, and Natasha, 17, died at the same location, little more than seven weeks apart.

Natasha, a former East Bergholt High School pupil, had been missing since July 27 after disappearing while returning to her parents home in Fronks Road, Dovercourt, following a night out in Ipswich.

Her body was discovered two weeks later by the side of the rail track a short distance from Manningtree station.

After Natasha went missing friends said she had been upset over a split with her boyfriend Josh Brennan.

Just over a week after what would have been Natasha's 18th birthday, her mother's body was discovered on September 18, near the shrine which had been set up for her daughter

In a tribute to his wife, Mr Coombs said: “Life will never be the same. You have been the greatest person anyone could wish to be with.”

Only a few days before her death Mrs Coombs wrote a poem to her daughter. It finished: “We know our hearts will never mend. We'll ache and weep until our lives end.