Website's mysterious RIP message

An RIP message about two teenage girls who apparently committed suicide
together appears to have been written on their band's website one day
before the pair went missing.

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 on Sunday, hanging from a tree in the Dandenong
Ranges National Park.

On the website of their band, Bitchy, a message "RIP Jodie & Steph" has been left in bold, black letters.

A date stamp on the website seems to indicate its content has not been
changed since April 14, one day before the two girls went missing.

Another message on the website seems to make light of the suicide.

The message on the band's blog reads: "new song called i don't know coming soon".

Underneath it continues: "jodie won't be in the song though due to unfortunate events . . . boohoo".

There is no indication on the website of who left the messages.

Jodie Gater also posted posted a series of suicidal poems on the internet in the months before her death.

From last December to February, on one of her websites, Jodie posted
three odes to suicide, the second one 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."

Another of Jodie's Myspace websites reads: "Let Steph n me b free."

Meanwhile, Stephanie also posted a series of photos on a website on
March 28 and 29, just over three weeks before she was found dead.

Her website profile said: "i dont wanna know how many friends you have cuz i dont have any anymore (sic)."

Stephanie's grieving mother is also believed to have used the internet on Monday to post a letter of farewell to her daughter.

The
author of the note, identified by Southern Cross Broadcasting as
Stephanie's mother Juli, a transit police officer, says her daughter,
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."

The teenagers also appear in footage on a YouTube website, dancing with two other girls in what appears to be a school hall.

Upwey
High School principal Greg Holman said the school community was
"devastated" by the girls' deaths and that counsellors were working
with students and staff.

Adolescent psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Greg said a joint suicide pact between girls was rare.

"It's very, very unusual to have girls kill themselves and particularly kill themselves in this way," he said.

Meanwhile he warned friends of the girls should be monitored.

"Yes, this puts all their friends at huge risk," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"We
know that having someone close to you commit suicide is a risk factor
in and of itself... I'm sure there's people working out there with the
young people to make sure they understand that suicide is not a
solution."

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".

Another said: "if it's true R.I.P. ill miss you and all the memories from primary skool. xoxo".

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.