What happened to Gaia Pope? Was body of Dorset teenager in A Death on Dancing Ledge documentary ever found

BBC Three documentary Gaia: A Death on Dancing Ledge, presented by Love Island star turned documentary maker Zara McDermott, follows the tragic death of a teenage girl in Dorset in 2017.

Gaia Pope’s disappearance more than five years ago raised serious questions over access to mental health care, and the police’s duty of care to alleged victims of sex crimes.

Gaia was a vulnerable person when she went missing in 2017, leading to a major search that ended tragically for her family. McDermott speaks to those who knew Gaia best, and follows the timeline of events that led to her death.

Zara uncovers the many missed opportunities that could have prevented Gaia’s death, and how Gaia was let down so profoundly throughout her teenage years.

Speaking of her latest documentary, Zara said: "I began diving deeper into Gaia’s story, alongside her brave family, and I uncovered a huge amount in the year and a half I spent down in Dorset. This young woman needed a voice, and I wanted to tell her story.”

What happened to Gaia Pope?

Gaia Pope was 19 years old when she died in mysterious circumstances in November 2017. The teenager was a vulnerable person who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after she made a statement to police that she had been drugged and raped when she was 16 years old.

Police told Gaia they were dropping her case six months after she made the allegation. Her family said that after the incident, Gaia became more isolated, hated going outside by herself, and stopped attending college.

Gaia’s mental health continued to deteriorate and she was eventually sectioned for several weeks in February and March 2017 but was sexually harassed by another patient. After her release she was assessed again in October but despite her family’s requests Gaia was denied further mental health support. 

After years of struggling with severe mental health issues, Gaia went missing from her home in Swanage, Dorset on 7 November, 2017.

Prior to her disappearance her twin sister, Maya, said that she had spoken to Gaia on the phone and that she had sounded terrified. CCTV footage of Gaia also showed her running along a street looking distressed.

Following her disappearance a search was launched with her family and local police involved. Due to the winter weather, there was a limited number of daylight hours in which the search could be carried out each day. 

Initially Gaia’s close friend Nathan Elsey, his grandmother Rosemary Dinch, and uncle Paul Elsey, were arrested in connection with her disappearance, though they were later released without charge.

Was Gaia Pope’s body ever found?

11 days after Gaia’s disappearance police found her body in undergrowth near a clifftop, known as Dancing Ledge on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, a few kilometres west of Swanage - her clothing was scattered nearby.

A pathology report concluded that Gaia had died of hypothermia, and stated that those suffering from hypothermia may feel hot, leading them to remove their clothing to try and cool themselves down. 

An inquest into her death found the lack of access to follow-up care following Gaia’s mental health assessment may have been a contributing factor in her death. It was also revealed that Gaia had felt anxious on the day of her disappearance because she had learned that her alleged rapist had been released from prison where he was serving time for unconnected sexual offences. 

When is Gaia Pope: A Death on Dancing Ledge on TV?

The three part documentary will air nightly on BBC Three at 9pm from Tuesday 25 July to Thursday 27. All three episodes are available to watch on BBC iPlayer now.