Families fear the worst as bedside vigils for poisoned Australian teens continues
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday confirmed that two other young women had died from suspected methanol poisoning.
The women are believed to have been aged in their 20s, The Bangkok Post reported, saying 10 others had also fallen ill.
In Melbourne, Bowles’ and Jones’ communities have thrown their support behind the girls and their families.
Cafe workers at Frank’s in Cheltenham, where Bowles had worked for more than two years, said she was in their thoughts on Tuesday.
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“She’s just an absolute star. She’s a bundle of joy. To know her is to love her,” the cafe manager, who asked not to be named for privacy reasons, told The Age.
“We’re just praying for the family. She’s just a loyal, caring, sweet person.”
Bowles completed VCE at Beaumaris Secondary College last year and was on a gap year. She wanted to work, save money and travel, the cafe manager said.
Jones is a university student after graduating from Mentone Girls’ Grammar, where she achieved a study score of 40 for global politics last year.
A former Mentone classmate, who asked not to be named, described her as “such a sweet, funny, sarcastic and sassy girl with a huge personality”.
“She was very active in her house at school, competitive, athletic, yet still smart and determined.”
Both teenagers play football for Beaumaris Football Club. President Nick Heath said on Tuesday that it was a difficult situation.
He describe Bowles as an “incredibly tough competitor” who was well-respected among her teammates. Her father was also an assistant coach at the club.
“We’ve got a very tight group of players at the footy club.”
Heath said the club would be supporting all the teammates.
“As a football club, we feel a little bit inadequate, a lot of their teammates are quite rightly distraught,” he said.
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