A promising graduate flung herself to her death from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco after surfing suicide websites.

Friends and family of Olivia Crowther, 23, who studied at the University of Sussex in Brighton, were stunned to hear she had been trawling macabre webpages showing tall buildings and bridges from which to leap.

Nobody even knew she had flown to the United States.

Olivia, who had been planning a career in publishing, was found by California Highway Patrol on Wednesday - the day after she arrived in America.

Parents Mark and Philippa Crowther said her death was a bolt from the blue, and that their daughter had no history of depression.

Simon Davies studied alongside Olivia at Sussex University. The two also lived together in Castle Street, Brighton, for a year after their graduation.

He said: "She was working in various places during this time while I was studying for an MA.

"Olivia used to keep herself to herself but I know that she was a very clever girl and she never seemed unhappy.

"We often talked about the future and it seemed to me she'd go on to be successful.

"My defining memory of Olivia will be the way she always put up with my ramblings. She always had an open mind and an interest in other people, and always had an intelligent opinion."

Friend Zoey Monk worked alongside the talented writer at SHE magazine. She said: "We worked together on the fashion desk. She was so well spoken and such a lovely girl.

"I would have never thought this would happen to her.

"I knew she had work experience planned later in the year and that she wanted to go to progress a career in magazine writing."

Olivia's uncle, Robert Leader, 61, said the only unhappiness in the English graduate's life was a nagging bladder problem.

Doctors had failed to cure the complaint she had suffered for 12 months, although there was no indication it could drive her to kill herself, he said.

Mr Leader added: "It is just supposition but it seems this was planned. We are all baffled and very shocked. There was no indication that this would happen.

"It is a huge mystery and the only thing I can think of is that she had this health problem that became all-consuming for her and that was a constant nagging source of discomfort."

Family and friends grew increasingly concerned after not hearing from Olivia for several days. They forced their way into her flat and younger sister Hannah, 22, checked Olivia's computer. They found a list of websites dedicated to suicide on her browsing history and discovered she had flown to America.

Mr Crowther, 56, a chemical engineer, and Mrs Crowther, a 53-year-old occupational therapist said: "She had never had any particular history of depression except for the usual emotional ups and downs of young people growing up in the 21st century.

"She had always been a private and quiet person but to us she was a loving daughter who seemed to be making her way in the world and to whom we spoke and who we saw on a regular basis.

"What has happened has come like a bolt out of the blue and has desolated us, as her parents, and her younger sister Hannah. We shall all miss her very much and life for us will, I'm afraid, never be the same again."

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