Tragic final text to mum from ‘catfished’ woman Renae Marsden

The parents of a young woman who took her own life after being catfished by her best friend have spoken about the heartbreaking situation.

The mother of a young woman who took her own life after being catfished has spoken about the heartbreaking final text message she received from her daughter.

Renae Marsden, 20, died on August 5, 2013 in Sydney.

A coronial inquest in 2020 found Renae’s best friend Camila Zeidan had catfished her by masquerading as a fictional man named Brayden Spiteri, who was in prison.

Renae had even been secretly planning to marry the man and when he ended the relationship, she ended her life.

Appearing on SBS’ Insight on Tuesday, Renae’s parents Teresa and Mark spoke of the tragic consequences of catfishing – luring someone into a relationship via a fake online identity – and the need to make it illegal.

Teresa spoke of the day Renae received a text message from Brayden that their relationship was over.

“She said everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about,” Teresa said. “I received a text message from Brayden not long after Renae got home saying I needed to sort my daughter out, she was threatening to kill herself.”

Renae assured her mother she was OK and went out, but later on Teresa received a heartbreaking message.

Renae Marsden and a text message she sent her mum Teresa before she died.

“She said to me that she loved me and she was sorry for what she was about to do and I needed to look after the rest of the kids in the family,” Teresa said, struggling to say the words.

Teresa and Mark said they had “hated” Renae’s relationship with Brayden and hoped she would meet someone else during the time he was in prison.

“Every time she did try to pull away from him there was the mum was dying of a brain tumour so it pulled her back, he was bashed in jail, it pulled her back. So every time she decided to try and pull away there was always something happening in his life that she felt sorry for him,” Teresa explained.

Teresa Marsden was emotional recalling the last text from her daughter. Picture: SBS

Teresa and Mark did not approve of their daughter’s relationship but didn’t want to risk pushing her away. Picture: SBS

The man whose photo was used by Camila to catfish Renae also appeared on the program, explaining how the incident changed his own life and he feared people were making assumptions about his involvement without understanding the situation fully.

Cameron Lang first discovered his photo had been used when a friend sent him a link to a story about the tragedy two years ago.

“Initially I just didn’t want to leave the house,” he said.

“I didn’t know what people would think. I didn’t want to deal with any questions or have to answer to anyone or anything. Staying inside was the simple answer.

“The next day I went to do shopping and I walked in and walked straight out. Just the sort of looks I received, it was pure judgment from people. That hit me like a ton of bricks.”

This photo of Cameron Lang and Camila Zeidan was used to catfish Renae.

Cameron said he didn’t know where the photo – of a younger him and Camila – used to catfish Renae was taken.

“The only place I could think was a club,” he said, adding he had no memory of meeting Camila or Renae.

Camila gave evidence at an inquest into Renae’s death after striking a deal that meant she could not be criminally charged over the young woman’s death.

During the inquest, Camila claimed Renae knew Brayden was fake and that the pair had concocted the phantom lover to hide their own secret relationship.

But NSW Deputy State Coroner Elaine Truscott rejected the claim and said that Camila’s lies had “amplified … the pain” of Renae’s family, and that her “lack of co-operation” had resulted in “further torment” of the family’s suffering.

Teresa and Mark Marsden following the 2020 inquest into their daughter’s death. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Lewins

On Tuesday, Teresa and Mark explained that in the days after Renae went missing their family had gathered at their house daily to show support and Camila had been there.

“We were told after the third day we would have the body so the family sat there and waited and Camila was part of that,” Teresa said.

Teresa and Mark explained that she had started to drop subtle suspicious clues.

“Things that she said didn’t make sense,” Mark said. “You know, ‘if you guys are hurting, so is Brayden’ and the first thing we said was ‘well, how do you know that?’

“(She said) ‘Oh I’ve spoken to him’, ‘well can we have the phone number?’ … of course there was no answer to that phone number that she provided.”