The mother of 17-year-old Natasha Coombs who died on a railway line last month has been found dead on the same stretch of track.Natasha, daughter of a senior manager at Norwich Union in Norwich, disappeared following a night out with friends in Ipswich on July 27.

The family of tragic teenager Natasha Coombs are mourning a second loss after her mother's body was found in identical circumstances just yards from the spot where she died.

Police were investigating the possibility that grief-stricken Joanne Coombs took her own life after she was discovered on the main Norwich to London rail line. Seventeen-year-old Natasha, her only child, was discovered on the same stretch of track last month following a two-week search.

The 40-year-old's death comes just 10 days after what would have been Natasha's 18th birthday. She had earlier spoken of her pain, saying: “The house is so empty without her. It's unbearable. She was the most important thing in my life and the reason I got up in the morning.”

Husband Gary Coombs, a senior manager at Norwich Union in Norwich, is said to be devastated by the chain of events. He spent the day at his home in Dovercourt, Essex, and visited a local church alone.

Mrs Coombs parents' Peter and Wendy Clackett said they were “totally devastated” but did not want to say anything more at this stage.

The discovery was made at Manningtree, Essex. The body has not yet been formally identified.

Natasha, a clerical assistant, vanished after a night out in Ipswich leading to a major police search. She had been upset about breaking up with boyfriend Josh Brennan, 18. One theory is that she had been making her way along rail tracks to his home in Lawford, Essex, when she was hit. A coroner is still investigating the circumstances.

A growing number of tributes, including flowers and candles, were left near to the spot where mother and daughter died.

A British Transport Police spokesman said the driver of the 7pm Liverpool Street to Norwich service reported a possible track fault. When the line was checked by the driver of a following freight train, he found the body.

“BTP can confirm that this is the same location where the body of 17-year- old Natasha Coombs was found on 10 August,” the spokesman said. “It is believed that the woman was struck and killed by the train reporting the track fault. This incident is not being treated as suspicious.”