Warning: This story deals with the topic of suicide.

A “vibrant” Chilean woman’s life “began to unravel” a month before she was found dead at an Auckland beach, a Coroner has found.

Millaray Bravo Ramos, 27, was living unlawfully in New Zealand for almost a year; she was struggling financially and working in a brothel before her death at Waiake Beach on March 20, 2019.

Coroner Debra Bell has ruled Bravo Ramos took her own life and there was no evidence of foul play – but her family disagree.

Antonio Bravo, her father, said he believed there was foul play involved in his daughter’s death, and raised concerns with the Coroner.

Bravo Ramos was living at an Airbnb in Auckland’s Torbay after arriving in 2016 on a student visa.

Coroner Bell noted she obtained a work visa which expired in April 2018, almost a year before her death. She applied for a visa extension but it was declined, meaning she was living unlawfully in New Zealand.

After losing her job as a cleaner, Bravo Ramos began working as an escort at a massage parlour. During that time, she started a “casual” relationship with a friend she met through Latin dancing, Tony Peterson.

He told Coroner Bell via a statement Bravo Ramos was more invested in the relationship and wanted “more than he was capable of giving”.

Antonio Bravo, however, said his daughter told him Peterson was her “soulmate”.

Peterson said Bravo Ramos told him about her financial problems and missing her family in Chile.

Working as an escort was “largely a secret”, Peterson said, but she eventually told her dad, who offered to fly her home.

“Her life was starting to unravel in the month before her death,” Peterson said. “She may have been in a dark place.”

Estefani Loncha, a friend of Bravo Ramos, said a few days before her death they’d gone to Cirque du Soleil together, and she was “very happy”.

Afterwards they went to a bar to dance and saw Peterson there with another woman, which upset Bravo Ramos and led them to leave.

Loncha said the next day they spoke on the phone about life and Bravo Ramos spoke about “saints and mental patterns” which Loncha didn’t understand.

Bravo Ramos also began sending long texts to Peterson, which he said often made no sense.

The police incident

At 11.30pm on March 17, police were called to Waiake Beach to find a car. Upon arrival, an officer saw a naked woman on the beach.

The officer asked the woman, who was Bravo Ramos, if she was okay and stated she laughed and said she was.

She kept walking into a reserve, and the officer followed and asked her why she was naked.

Bravo Ramos apologised and kept walking, when the officer asked where she was going she told him to “f… off”.

The officer said he followed her back to her address for safety and noted she seemed drunk. Police on scene woke another woman at the house and asked her to keep an eye on Bravo Ramos.

The woman who spoke with police was Fabiola Marra, who had begun renting a room at the house that day.

Marra said she asked Bravo Ramos if she needed help, but the response was “nonsensical” and she kept telling everyone to go away.

Police were satisfied she was safe and told Marra and a man at the address to call if there were any concerns.

‘See you at the buoy’

Overnight, Peterson received a text from Bravo Ramos in Spanish.

That afternoon, an off-duty police officer saw Bravo Ramosand said she seemed to be “doing yoga”. She didn’t seem distressed, he said.

The next day her body was discovered.

Police said there was no evidence to suggest foul play, while a forensic pathologist noted her death was “not specific”.

Coroner Bell ruled Bravo Ramos’ death was a suicide and noted her mood declined in her last month. She had several stressors including money, homesickness and uncertainty about her life.

Forensic pathologist Dr Charles Glenn said he looked for inconsistencies or foul play but did not find anything.

‘Don’t know what to think’

Antonio Bravo said he was upset with the Coroner’s ruling and still believed his daughter didn’t end her life.

Upon hearing of his daughter’s death, he travelled to New Zealand and said he found the room she was renting had been “cleared out”.

Bravo said he took his daughter’s laptop and two iPhones back to Chile and had them analysed, after New Zealand police said password protection meant the laptop and one phone couldn’t be examined.

Bravo said he found things had been deleted from the devices.

Benjamin Rug, a friend of Bravo Ramos, said he “didn’t know what to think” when it came to her death.

“What seems clear to me is all the evidence wasn’t taken into consideration. The laptop was searched in Chile, so why couldn’t police look at it in New Zealand?”

Where to get help

• 1737, Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 to talk to a trained counsellor.
• Anxiety New Zealand 0800 ANXIETY (0800 269 4389)
• Depression.org.nz 0800 111 757 or text 4202
• Lifeline 0800 543 354
• Rural Support Trust 0800 787 254
• Samaritans 0800 726 666
• Suicide Crisis Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
• Yellow Brick Road 0800 732 825
• thelowdown.co.nz Web chat, email chat or free text 5626
• What’s Up 0800 942 8787 (for 5 to 18-year-olds). Phone counselling available Monday-Friday, noon-11pm and weekends, 3pm-11pm. Online chat is available 3pm-10pm daily.
• Youthline 0800 376 633, free text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz, or find online chat and other support options here.
• If it is an emergency, click here to find the number for your local crisis assessment team.
• In a life-threatening situation, call 111.