POLICE investigating the deaths of two women following an incident in a hotel in Greenock are speaking to relatives of the pair to piece together the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
Nicola McDonough, 23, and her mother Margaret, 52, both from Paisley, were found at the Premier Inn in Greenock, Inverclyde, with serious injuries last Friday.
No-one is being sought in connection with the deaths and it is understood the pair took their own lives by cutting their wrists and swallowing an overdose of paracetamol.
It has been reported that they had formed a suicide pact, although this has not been confirmed by police. Mrs McDonough, who was discovered in a bedroom, died at the scene while her daughter, who was found in the hallway, died in hospital on Monday with her father Thomas, 56, of Blairgowrie, Perthshire, at her side.
Friends of the young woman have said they are "baffled" at the tragedy, as she had appeared happy and carefree. Her siblings Matthew, Michael, Kevin and Margaret are said to be struggling to come to terms with her death.
The 23-year-old was on the verge of starting her career in social work after completing her degree, and had secured an interview. However, it has been reported that she had recently split up with her boyfriend.
Her mother worked as a council foster carer and twice stood as a candidate for the Liberal Democrat party. She was divorced from Nicola's father and was said to have taken the end of her marriage badly.
One friend, who did not want to be named, said: "The end of her marriage hit Margaret very hard, she was very upset. She stayed on her own after that and was single. She was not looking for another man to replace the one she had lost."
Mrs McDonough is believed to have been considering adoption after taking in a girl and boy, aged two and five. She was reported missing after she failed to pick them up from nursery. The children are now being cared for by social workers.
Detectives who had been hoping to speak to the younger woman were unable to interview her before she died, and are now gathering details from her family to establish the events which led to her and her mother's deaths.
Officers have appealed for anyone who saw them in the Inverclyde area or driving their red Suzuki Swift car in Paisley.
They checked into the Premier Inn at around 3.50pm on Thursday, left a short time later and then returned between 12.30am and 1am the next day.
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