Joanne Ingham, one of the Ingham twins who captivated public attention in the late 90's, was found dead at a Wellington Motel.
Video / Mark Mitchell
The grieving sons of one of the infamous Ingham twins are "deeply saddened" after their mother died in unexplained circumstances at a Wellington motel.
Joanne Ingham's ex-husband is now preparing to fly from Malaysia to support the two young men as they await information about the cause of her death.
Ingham was found dead in the Harbour City Motor Inn on Tuesday morning. Police were called to the Webb St motel about 2.40am.
Police confirmed the death is being treated as unexplained. The matter has been referred to the Coroner's Court for investigation and a post-mortem has been scheduled.
A death can be referred to a coroner if someone dies "unexpectedly, violently or in suspicious circumstances", or if a doctor is unsure what caused the person's death.
Ingham's ex-husband Hanafi Bin Salleh told the Herald he was still in the dark about what happened to his ex-wife.
Joanne Ingham, one of the Ingham twins who captivated public attention in the late 1990s, was found dead at a Wellington motel. Photo / File
Speaking from his home in Malaysia, Salleh said he'd spoken earlier today to his eldest son Shayden, 22, who lives in Nelson, and was in email contact with his youngest son Jamie, 18.
Salleh, who married Ingham in Malaysia in 1999, said he has not seen his sons for several years and was now trying to book a flight to New Zealand to attend Ingham's funeral and support their sons.
He said he missed both his boys and carried photos of them in his wallet.
Salleh said it was difficult getting information about what happened to Ingham from overseas. He had "no idea" who to contact about her funeral arrangements.
He had spoken to police who said the matter was with forensic investigators who were awaiting the results of the post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.
"We are waiting for the police investigation. They're trying to find out [how Ingham died] then they will let me know."
In the meantime he was looking for flights and arranging his vaccination documentation to ensure he could enter the country.
Ingham and her twin sister Sarah first came to international attention in 1997 when they were aged 18.
They stowed away on a Malaysian container ship and claimed to have jumped overboard and survived swimming through crocodile-infested waters in Queensland. The pair spent two weeks in the wilderness, surviving on shellfish.
Their tale dominated world headlines and led to them receiving a hefty payment to appear on the Paul Holmes TV show.
In an awkward interview the twins told Holmes that before jumping off the ship they were told to hold their life jackets down the side so they didn't break their necks when they hit the water.
They were also told they could die if they went under the ship into the propeller, so they should jump out as far as they could.
Joanne Ingham was found dead at the Harbour City Motor Inn on Webb St. Photo / File
Two years later the twins travelled to Malaysia and were both married and had children. Ingham became a devoted Muslim wife, but in 2004 she brought her children back to New Zealand on holiday.
In recent years, she had struggled with alcohol addiction and appeared in court for a string of minor offences, including stealing tobacco.
It's understood she did not have permanent accommodation at the time of her death and that her sister was seen outside the Wellington motel in tears yesterday.
Joanne Ingham's Facebook page has images of her around Wellington, along with photos of a tabby cat.
One post she shared reads: "I have been broken, I know hardships, I have lost myself. But here I stand still moving forward, growing stronger each day. I will never forget the harsh lessons I've learned, I will never regret because the hell I endured made me stronger."
