Influencer found dead on billionaire’s yacht after residents heard ‘mysterious screams’

Text messages sent the night a young fashion influencer was found dead on a Hamptons yacht have revealed the confusion that unfolded in the hours before her death.

Martha Nolan, a 33-year-old fashion designer and influencer living in Manhattan, met with insurance executive Christopher Durnan at the Montauk Yacht Club on the 5th August to discuss her emerging fashion brand, before the pair left the dock on his boat to drink champagne and watch the sunset, according to New York Magazine.

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When Nolan stopped responding to messages after leaving the marina, her friends began tracking her location through the Find My iPhone app. At one point, her location appeared to show her drifting somewhere in the Atlantic. In the group chat, one friend joked, “Maybe she’s dead,” before Nolan briefly responded ten minutes later, saying she was at the yacht club and her phone was on.

Around an hour after her final message, Nolan was found unresponsive on the yacht. Durnan was reportedly seen running down the dock naked, throwing sunscreen toward another boat and calling for help.

Members of the Montauk Yacht Club, including some captains, heard “mysterious screaming” from the docks late at night, one club member told the New York Post.

Long Island authorities are investigating the circumstances of her death as more details emerge about the final hours between Nolan and the 65-year-old businessman. Her friends have questioned Durnan’s claim that he removed his clothes only because they were “soaked” after he attempted to perform CPR when Nolan suddenly went limp between 10.30 and 11pm.

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Durnan did not call 911. Police received a call from a bystander around midnight, leaving at least an hour unaccounted for in the timeline. His lawyer insisted there was no delay and that events “all happened immediately”.

Nolan, originally from Carlow, Ireland, had built a social-media presence documenting her Upper East Side lifestyle, frequently posting videos of champagne outings, private-jet trips and helicopter rides with her boyfriend, whom she reportedly planned to marry. She had recently finalized a divorce and was working to launch her own fashion label after completing a master’s degree in digital marketing.

After she was found dead, the Suffolk County Police Department shared new details about the case: “An autopsy conducted on Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra, the woman found dead on a boat in Montauk on the 5th August, did not show evidence of violence. Her final cause of death is pending further examination.”

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The investigation into her death remains ongoing.

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Featured image credit: TikTok/@martha_nolan