Missing estate agent Chelsie Dack wrote a haunting message on Facebook about her struggles with life in lockdown before she vanished in the middle of the night – with her parents now fearing she took her own life.
Chelsie, 23, wrote a post saying life was getting ‘scarier by the day’ and that she had ‘really underestimated this current situation’ just weeks before she disappeared from her home in Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk in the early hours of Monday.
Police called off a search on Wednesday and said they believed Chelsie had entered fast-flowing water and been swept away after her phone was found on the pier in the seaside town near Great Yarmouth.
Chelsie Dack, pictured, wrote a haunting Facebook post saying that life was getting ‘scarier by the day’ before she took her own life
Just three weeks earlier on March 28, Chelsie wrote on Facebook: ‘I really underestimated this current situation, and I never really make a Facebook post but I wanted too tonight.
‘I don’t watch the news because I think it makes me feel worse but I see things and read about them online and it gets scarier by the day.’
In response to the post, her mother, Dawn Howell, urged her daughter to move back home if she was feeling lonely, which Chelsie insisted she wasn’t.
Ms Howell went on to tell her: ‘I worry about you,’ in comments under the post, which was written just days after the coronavirus lockdown was announced.
The heartbreaking post Chelsie Dack made about her struggles with life in isolation before she went missing
Chelsie wrote: ‘I really underestimated this current situation, and I never really make a Facebook post but I wanted to tonight.
‘I don’t watch the news because I think it makes me feel worse but I see things and read about them online and it gets scarier by the day.
Chelsie’s mother commented on the post urging her to move back home for the lockdown if she felt lonely but Chelsie said that she was fine
‘I think everyone is going through something at the moment even if it means just being lonely for a second.
‘I hope all of my friends and family are safe, and I hope everyone is keeping well.
‘I am only a message away if anyone ever wants a chat, these times only make you think about what is important.’
As well as her mother, friends also commented, telling her ‘we love you loads’ and that the videos she was posting were ‘keeping us all going’.
After Chelsie was reported missing, Ms Howell said: ‘I cannot get my head around this.
‘It’s very out of the ordinary as she is the most bubbliest person.
‘She really is so happy and cheerful. I’ve got no idea at all why she might have gone missing. We were texting last night and she seemed absolutely fine.
‘Hopefully someone will find her safe and well as I just want her back.’
Despite the post, she insisted she didn’t think her daughter was depressed because of the lockdown.
She said: ‘I don’t think it was anything to do with that, she was happy.
‘We just don’t understand it.’
After Norfolk Police decided to call of searches Great Yarmouth policing commander, Superintendent Mike Britton, said: ‘We’ve carried out extensive local searches involving dedicated search teams, dog units, National Police Air Service, the coastguard, RNLI and Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue and the coastguard helicopter
Norfolk Lowland volunteers stuck up hundreds of missing posters before the search was called off
Norfolk Lowland volunteers search for Chelsie after she was reported missing at 3am on Monday
Police called off the search on Wednesday and said they believed Chelsie had entered fast-flowing water and been swept away after her phone was found on the pier
‘Unfortunately there has been no sign of Chelsie and she hasn’t used her bank accounts or social media accounts since the early hours of Monday morning.
‘This, combined with CCTV inquiries, leads us to believe the most likely scenario is that she has entered the water.
He thanked the local community for helping in the search but asked them to keep maintaining social distance.
On the same post that Find Chelsie Halls Facebook page administer, Emma Halls, said the family believed Chelsie had taken her own life Emma said: ‘The family are together and heartbroken, they are overwhelmed by all the support and love from friends, family and the community.
‘They ask that you respect their privacy at this very sad time, but to know that they are still holding on to a glimmer of hope.
‘Love and best wishes.
‘They thank each and every one of us in helping find our beautiful Chelsie.’