The deaths of 13-year-old Roseanne Bearto and 14-year-old Mary Jane Priestley in 1887 remain a complete mystery – were they a suicide pact, or was it something far more sinister?

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(Image: Bradford Through The Lens)

On a balmy September afternoon in 1887, two teenage girls decided to take a leisurely walk around Bradford’s Chellow Dene Reservoir, but they never came back.

Instead, their bodies were discovered the next day at the bottom of the reservoir, tightly entwined in each other’s arms.

Even today, the deaths of 13 year old Roseanne Bearto and 14 year old Mary Jane Priestley are shrouded in mystery. Was it a suicide pact, or was there something more ominous at play? Who were these young girls who drowned in the reservoir, and did they willingly enter the water? It comes after an evil dad’s incest secret was hidden in a family photo before all seven were killed in a massacre.

On September 16, 1887, the girls were spotted working together in their hometown of Allerton. They were employed at the well-known Fairbank and Homes Mill, with Mary recently transferring to work alongside her best friend, Roseanne, reports Yorkshire Live.

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13-year-old Roseanne Bearto and 14-year-old Mary Jane Priestley were pulled from Chellow Dene Reservoir (Image: Bradford Through The Lens)

According to numerous local accounts, the girls were inseparable, so it didn’t raise any eyebrows when they asked to go for a walk around 10 am that day.

From this point, the story takes a tragic turn. Local reports describe the girls as bright and intelligent, both hailing from comfortable homes.

Yet, they both chose to visit the reservoir and approach the water.

The alarm wasn’t sounded until early evening when they failed to return from work. No one had any idea where the girls had gone, but after an investigation, the police found a shawl discarded by Mary.

Fearing the worst, officers searched the nearby waters, but came up empty-handed. It wasn’t until the following day that authorities located the girls.

Two sets of footprints – one from each girl – were identified, and after examining the water, the girls’ bodies were retrieved.

When the girls’ bodies were discovered, the duo was found locked in a tight embrace, holding each other close.

Understandably, their deaths devastated the small Bradford community of Allerton.

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Woodland at Chellow Dene, Bradford(Image: Tim Green/Flickr)

A coroner’s inquest into their deaths took place several days later at a neighborhood pub. Nevertheless, no evidence of criminal activity was uncovered, and the girls’ bodies showed no injuries to indicate anything other than that they had voluntarily entered the water.

Too heartbreaking to be classified as a suicide pact, the official cause of death was simply determined as ‘death by accidental drowning’.

Although the pair’s true story may remain a mystery forever, it’s evident that the girls have not been forgotten. Mary’s burial location remains unknown, but a heartfelt memorial to Roseanne can be discovered in the Churchyard of St Matthew’s in Wilsden.

The headstone simply states: “Roseanne, who died in her fourteenth year.”