A HEARTBROKEN woman has expressed her sadness after discovering her sister died just 24 hours after speaking to her on the phone.

Katarina Taaru from Reading spoke to the Chronicle following the death of her sister Hédwig, after she was found in a field near the River Thames in Purley on Saturday, March 7.

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She gave a tribute to her "loving and kind sister" who was just 26-years-old and had a three-year-old son called Isaiah.

Katarina said: "She was lovely, kind and she was everything to me. She did have depression and she said how she was on some strong tablets. Mental health issues are a big thing, people are not taking this very seriously. People appear okay but deep down they are not okay. It is a very tricky situation and she is gone, she will never come back."

The sister explained how she was planning to visit her on that Saturday with her two daughters.

She said: "I was only speaking to her the night before her death and I couldn't tell she was depressed or anything. "She had been depressed for a long time though and she was on medication but in my eyes she was okay."

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The family explained how they are still waiting to find out a cause of death as it is expected to take two months.

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The mum-of-two added: "I remember after our phone call had finished I couldn't sleep, I just had a weird feeling, I felt something wasn't up.

"Despite this, I told my daughters 'we are going to auntie's later this afternoon', then I got a phone call from my brother to say Hédwig is dead, she was found dead.

"I couldn't believe it. I was so distraught, I thought how can she be dead? I feel like I am in a dream.

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"If she took her own life or fell in the water then I would understand and have some closure, but we don't know what the cause is and have to wait to find out."

Katarina explained how Hédwig had fallen pregnant with her son while she was studying at university for a law degree. She then changed her university course.

She told the Chronicle how her sister was "found in the field after she had walked for a distance and would have had to climb over a fence from her house to get to the field."

Hedwig was described as as "loving sister".

The family hope to find a cause of death soon so they can repatriate her back to her home country in Namibia, South Africa.

Thames Valley Police said the death is being treated as "non suspicious" and a file is being prepared for the coroner to determine a conclusion surrounding the cause of death.