Tributes are flooding in for Madalyn Davis, the 21-year-old British backpacker who plunged to her death from a popular selfie spot on Sunday morning.
Davis had been in Australia for several weeks, according to the BBC.
She reportedly fell off a 98-foot-high cliff in Diamond Bay Reserve in Sydney around 6:30 a.m.
The body of the young woman was found in the water below, four hours after police were contacted.
Davis was at a party at an affluent area in Vaucluse on Saturday night, the night before she and seven of her friends climbed over a fence to watch the sunrise from the cliff.
The notorious Instagram selfie spot has signs posted by the local authority, Waverley Council, warning tourists to stay away from the cliff's edge.
The mayor of Waverley, Paula Masselos, told Reuters:
"We're actually working closely with the police on this at the moment."
"We've already increased the height of our fences, we've added additional multilingual signage."
In August, a 27-year-old fell from the same location and died.
Witnesses alleged the victim was taking photos.
People offered their sympathies and many tributes came pouring in after news of her death.
Rose Katie wrote on Facebook:
"Such a beautiful soul, you just loved living life to the fullest, you was one of the nicest people, the most beautiful! you'll be missed soo much, you really was taken too soon."
On Instagram, @susieredus said:
"What a beautiful soul. My sincere condolences to her family and friends. May you all find peace in having known such an amazing spirit here on earth."
Another friend, Meg Feather, wrote:
"What happened to Maddy was a mistake and no one should be blamed especially not her. She didn't deserve it".
Heather Widdup, principal of Retford Oaks Academy, where Davis matriculated, wrote:
"Madalyn was a much-liked, popular and well-respected member of the academy community, with many of our staff team recalling her time at Retford Oaks fondly"
"Madalyn joined the academy in the latter stages of her secondary education, had a keen interest in and an obvious talent for art and design, and had done well in her GCSEs."
"Our deepest condolences go out to Madalyn's family and friends at this very difficult time."
According to Davis' Instagram, she was a model, make-up artist and eyelash beautician who had been traveling through Thailand and Bali before arriving in Australia.
On December 29, she wrote her 14,000 followers:
"Not looked back at my old life once (miss my job though) and I am super excited for my future abroad."
Her Instagram was forced to go private after trolls criticized the late model for how she died.
The Lincolnite/Facebook
The Lincolnite/Facebook
The Lincolnite/Facebook
Davis' mother, Rebecca Davis, defended her daughter in a Tuesday post that is no longer visible:
"My daughter was not self-obsessed, she was a wonderful beautiful person that made a mistake."
"How can you write such things? She has a little sister and brother who [are] reading this."
The grieving mother added:
"Madalyn was loved, she had integrity and decency."
"If you need to believe otherwise in order to feel better about yourself then that's your pain."
Regardless of how someone died, we could afford to be more compassionate for the sake of those they leave behind.
@GregAbbott_TX/X
