Tragedy as yoga teacher, 35, slips and falls to her death after going for a jog with her dog ‘Mac’ to break up the boredom of self-isolation – before her distraught dad find her body
- April Morel, 35, was with family at Diamond Harbour on Banks Peninsula in NZ
- On Monday, she left home with her family dog ‘Mac’ to go for a jog after 1pm
- When she didn’t return, he father went looking and found her body on a cliff
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A yoga teacher who went for a run to break up the boredom of the coronavirus lockdown slipped off a cliff and fell to her death.
April Morel, 35, had been self-isolating with her boyfriend at her father and step-mother’s home in Diamond Harbour, on Banks Peninsula, in New Zealand.
On Monday, the yoga teacher left the house shortly after 1pm for a short jog through a familiar spot with the family dog, Mac.
But her family started to worry when, two hours later, she had still not returned.
Fearing his daughter may have had an accident, Ms Morel’s father Don Martin phoned the police and then called a friend who had a boat.
Mr Martin and his friend searched the coastline until they found Ms Morel’s body on the rocks shortly after 7pm.
April Morel (pictured), 35, was in self-isolation at her father and step-mother’s home in Diamond Harbour on Banks Peninsula in New Zealand
The yoga teacher left for a short jog through a familiar spot with the family dog, Mac, shortly after 1pm
‘Being first on the site was quite a horrific thing. The tide was coming up quite rapidly, so I went to shore, and got her as high out of the water as I possibly could and we waited for Coastguard,’ Mr Martin told stuff.nz.
The coastguard arrived fifteen minutes after Mr Martin found his daughter’s body and they transferred her to Naval Point, Lyttelton.
The dog, Mac, was later found by a resident of Diamond Harbour and they looked after him until he was collected by family the following day.
Ms Morel and her American boyfriend were staying with her family during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms Morel’s body was found by her father after he started searching the coastline by boat
Ms Morel had been staying with her family amid the coronavirus crisis
Her stepmother, Caroline Martin, said her step-daughter loved to travel all over the world, which caused her family some concern, but they never thought something bad would happen while she was home.
‘We worried when she was in India, we worried when she was in Thailand, we worried when she was in all sorts of places and for her to die on our own doorstep in a place that we’ve always felt really safe is just, you can’t process it, we’re all completely stunned.’
Ms Morel’s sister, Zoey Walker, 24, said she was their ‘rock’ and dancing under the stars was one of her favourite things to do.
‘Her family and friends will always remember her when they look up to the sky, we know that she will be the brightest star in the galaxy. We will always carry her in our hearts … as a beautiful soul like her will never be forgotten,’ Ms Walker said.