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MELBOURNE - The grieving father of one of two girls who died in an apparent suicide pact has warned parents to spend time with their children and monitor their internet use.
Jodie Gater and Stephanie Gestier, both 16-year-old students at Melbourne's Upwey High School, were missing for a
week before their bodies were found yesterday hanging from a tree in the Dandenong Ranges National Park.
Between December and February, Jodie posted on one of her websites three odes to suicide, the second titled Suicide in the Night.
It reads: "It's over for me, I can't take it! I hear it over and over again, It feels like it always rains."
Stephanie's website profile said: "i dont wanna know how many friends you have cuz i dont have any anymore (sic)."
Speaking on the Austereo network tonight, Robert Gater said his daughter spent hours in her room chatting online with her friends.
"Love the kids, give them a great big hug every now and then, and do family things with them," he warned parents.
"Don't let them get bottled up in a room that has a computer in it (so) that you don't see them for eight hours a day or something, and I just urge all parents that they try and make sure they do those things."
But Mr Gater defended his daughter's writings.
"A lot of it you could look at and say it's weird, a lot of it you could say she's very creative with her writing.
"I'm not going to hide that she wasn't a troubled kid, but tell me what teen isn't. We've all had to deal with issues when we were teenagers once."
Jodie and her brother had been in counselling since moving to Belgrave to live with their father six months ago, but there was no sign anything was wrong with either girl, Mr Gater said.
"If it can help parents, the only thing I would say, and I think Steph's mum would agree with me, is that both of the girls seemed almost too good ... they were too well behaved," he said.
Stephanie's mother is believed to have used the internet early today to post a letter of farewell to her daughter.
According to Southern Cross Broadcasting, Stephanie's mother Juli (Juli), a transit police officer, posted a message saying her only child "was found with her friend hanging from a tree".
"Stephanie, why didn't you tell me you were so upset? Why didn't you just come home?" the note asked.
"You had only just turned 16. You were always such a quiet girl who spent time listening to music and surfing the internet.
"There is nothing that couldn't have been sorted out. You were my only child and can never be replaced. Bye bye, my little girl."
Upwey High School principal Greg Holman said today the school community was "devastated" by the girls' deaths and that counsellors were working with students and staff.
Cyber friends left tributes on Jodie's website.
One contributor, Matt, said: "R.I.P girl. Gonna miss you lots. I love you and i'll never forget you".
Jodie's final website update was on April 14, a day before she and Stephanie went missing.
Her final message was to her boyfriend, Allan, next to a picture of them kissing.
"I luv you sooo soo much Allan, Miss u heaps and heaps xoxoxo I will always remember u," she wrote.
- AAP
