British woman found dead in Tonga tsunami was trying to save dogs

Angela Glover’s haunting last Instagram described an “eerie silence... sudden stillness” before she died trying to save her five dogs.

A British woman swept off a Tonga beach with her husband and five dogs has been found dead, her Sydney-based brother said.

Angela Glover, 50, left a haunting final Instagram post of the red sunset over the ocean describing an “eerie silence” a day before she was “washed away” by the Tongan tsunami.

Brother Nick Eleini, who lives in Sydney, confirmed to reporters that her body had been recovered.

“I’m not aware that [her death] has been officially confirmed yet but a body has been recovered - that is my understanding,” he told The Independent.

“The body of my sister Angela has been found. Angela has always had a deep love of dogs and so started an animal welfare charity. I understand that this terrible accident came about as they tried to rescue their dogs,” he added to reporters.

Angela Glover is feared dead after she went missing during the Tongan tsunami. Picture: Supplied.

Earlier, he told New Zealand broadcaster 1News that rescue crews were searching but that the family was expecting the worst.

“Look, it’s 48 hours I’m not holding out much hope, I think it’ll be a body retrieval rather than finding her, but I’m hoping, that’s all I can do,” he said, adding her husband and one dog were safe.

“Angela and her husband, James, got washed away. James was able to cling on to a tree for quite a long time, but Angela was unable to do so and was washed away with the dogs, I think four or five dogs,” he added to The Guardian.

Powerful undersea volcano eruption in Tonga on Friday Jan 14, 2022. Picture: Supplied.

A day before she went missing, Ms Glover posted eerie images of a red sky sunset describing the tidal swells, eerie silences and sudden stillness of the sea before the tsunami hit.

“I’m not kidding you.... This is the sunset today after the volcano exploded last night, she captioned the image, with the hashtags #epic #volcano #tsunami.

“We’ve been under tsunami warnings today... everything’s fine... a few swells... a few eerie silences... a wind or two... then silence... sudden stillness... electric storms... everything looked like I was watching thru an Instagram filter.”

The final Instagram post of Angela Glover warned of sudden stillness before she went missing during the Tongan tsunami. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Eleini returned to the United Kingdom to be with their mother as they prepared for the worst.

The British charity worker is the first confirmed reported death of the tsunami caused by the eruption of the underwater Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano.

“I don’t think this is going to have a happy ending,” he told The Guardian.

“It’s excruciating. I can’t even believe the words are coming out of my mouth, to be honest.”

Mr Eleini said he thought they would be safe if they were at home, but believed they could have been at Ahau, on the eastern side of a small spit of land on the west of Tongatapu, when the tsunami hit.

“They were house-sitting a house on the west coast of the island [of Tongatapu, Tonga’s main island]. James went back to their proper house on the south coast of the island, but Angela didn’t turn up. James contacted the police and the British embassy there, where he was able to notify us of what happened,” Mr Elieni said.

Angela Glover is feared dead after she went missing during the Tongan tsunami. Her husband, James, survived. Picture: Supplied.

“I kind of thought if they were at home, they would’ve been alright, but that’s a very small spit of land, only a few metres above sea level. All I can speculate is that the waves came and washed them away,” he added.

Ms Glover established the Tonga Animal Welfare Society after leaving her career in marketing and advertising in her hometown of Brighton. She moved to Tonga in 2015 with her husband, James, who ran the Happy Sailor Tattoo Parlour in the capital, Nuku’alofa.

Mr Eleini described his sister as a great, fun girl who was lovely to be around.

“We just adored her,” he told 1News. “She grew from this party girl in London, she really grew into the Tongan way of life, really embraced it.”

Angela Glover is feared dead after she went missing during the Tongan tsunami. Picture: Supplied.

Originally published as British woman found dead in Tonga tsunami was trying to save dogs