The mom of an fashion designer, who was found dead at a Hamptons yacht club this week, said her other daughter was ‘crying and shaking’ as she broke the news to her.
Ireland-born Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra’s body was found at Montauk Yacht Club, New York, on Tuesday – triggering an investigation into her death.
‘I don’t know what happened to my daughter,’ Elma Nolan, she said days after Martha, 33, was tragically found dead.
She said that her youngest daughter and Martha’s sister, Jacqui, broke the horrifying news to her, saying she ‘arrived on Tuesday night and she was crying and shaking.’
‘She said, “I have terrible news. Martha’s dead,”‘ Elma recalled to the Irish Independent.
Investigators have not yet said how Martha died aboard a luxury yacht. No arrests have been made.
Although detectives said that Nolan-O’Slatarra’s body did not show signs of violence, they have not yet ruled out foul play.
The 33-year-old moved to Manhattan from the small village of Carlow, Ireland in 2018, and founded fashion swimwear label East x East.
Her heartbroken mom said the tragedy came as her daughter was planning a trip home to visit her family in Carlow.
The devastated mom of Irish fashion designer Martha Nolan-O’Slatarra, 33, said her other daughter was ‘crying and shaking’ as she broke the news that Martha was found dead at a ritzy Montauk yacht club this week
The 33-year-old moved to Manhattan from the small village of Carlow, Ireland in 2018, and founded fashion swimwear label East x East
Recalling her last phone call with her daughter, Elma said that they briefly discussed Martha’s travel plans for her vacation home to Ireland.
‘She wanted to know if I would be around to pick her up,’ she said.
‘It was a very quick call because she is so busy. But that’s the last time we spoke.’
She said she has been waiting for answers over what happened to Martha, who was found unconscious aboard the docked yacht around midnight Tuesday before being declared dead at the scene.
One boater at the scene described the ship as a ‘party boat’ and told Daily Mail she heard screams when the woman’s body was found.
Many in the wealthy enclave have now been left reeling as questions remain about what may have happened to the Manhattan resident, whom locals described to the New York Post as ‘well-known in the community’.
‘She was very friendly, always smiling,’ one local said. ‘There’s going to be a lot of conversation out of this.’
Another regular at the Yacht Club claimed Nolan-O’Slatarra’s boyfriend owns the boat – which is registered in Long Beach, New York – and told Daily Mail that whenever she saw the boat owner he would be ‘drunk and always messed up.’
As Nolan-O’Slattara fell unconscious Monday night, she said, the boat owner was seen running outside naked screaming ‘that’s my girlfriend’ as he tried to get help from other boaters.
One boater at the scene described the ship, named Ripple, as a ‘party boat’ and told Daily Mail that she heard screams when the body was discovered
Nolan-O’Slatarra modeling her swimwear brand in St Barts in February 2024. She captioned the post: ‘In my @eastxeast era’
The fashion designer lived a ritzy lifestyle in New York City before her untimely death, and often shared pictures of herself enjoying private jets and living it up with her glamorous pals.
On her TikTok account, Nolan-O’Slatarra was seen with her friends taking a Falcon jet to Nashville for a concert in 2021, with the designer highlighting her ‘#milehighclub’ and ‘#privatejet’ life in the captions.
Last October, she shared a video of herself and a male companion drinking bubbly as they flew over a sunny, rural looking area. She captioned the short clip: ‘Heli on up.’
Nolan-O’Slattara also shared a TikTok clip of herself with the same man sitting in a luxurious convertible car as it drove through picturesque countryside.
She grew up in the small town of Carlow, Ireland, roughly 55 miles outside of Dublin. She left home at 16 after her parents sent her to the highly regarded Institute of Education, a private secondary school in Dublin.
In an interview with the Irish Independent last year, Nolan-O’Slatarra said she ‘loved’ her new life in New York City.
‘I was the small town girl who needed to get out to achieve her big dreams,’ she said, highlighting how she was ‘money driven’, ‘business driven’ and ‘always knew I wanted to be successful’.
The fashion designer had recently celebrated the opening of her East x East popup shop at Gurney’s Montauk Resort and Seawater Spa
Nolan-O’Slatarra grew up in the small town of Carlow, Ireland, roughly 55 miles outside of capital city Dublin
After secondary school, she attended University College Dublin where she studied the fundamentals of business as an undergraduate and later earned a master’s degree in digital marketing.
Once she completed her degrees, Nolan-O’Slatarra interviewed for graduate scheme positions at major companies, including Deloitte and Ernst & Young, but said she was told it would be nine months before she would be informed of a hiring decision.
The entrepreneur was looking for a ‘change’ in the interim and ended up in the US in 2015 after her dad bought her a one-way ticket to New York City, the newspaper reports.
Although she only intended to be in the city for nine months, Nolan-O’Slatarra got a job at fintech start-up Street Diligence, a company that worked with what she described as ‘top-tier hedge funds’.
She claimed the firm’s CEO offered to pursue visa sponsorship after she successfully landed investment bank Jefferies as a client.
Violent crimes are unusual in the upscale Long Island beach and resort area that is known for its monstrous mansions and high-end dining. (Pictured: Montauk Yacht Club)
She left Street Diligence after two years, bouncing around at multiple companies before starting her firm Brand Growth Consultants in 2021.
She launched several companies that same year, including her direct-to-consumer Amazon brand Duper and her resort wear line East x East, her LinkedIn page reveals.
East x East had a brand shoot in Mallorca, Spain in 2023. Just weeks ago, Nolan-O’Slatarra celebrated the grand opening of the brand’s popup shop at Gurney’s Montauk Resort and Seawater Spa.
‘Goals Achieved,’ she wrote on a video shared of the shack housing her bikinis and beach wear shared on TikTok on July 1 as she encouraged the public to come visit.
Nolan-O’Slatarra was also appointed director of operations at K4 Capital Management, an investment management firm, in June last year.
