Gaynor Lord search: Police say 30 people have come forward with information
Specialist divers have found a body in the hunt for missing Norwich mother Gaynor Lord.
After a week of searching, Norfolk Police confirmed that the as-yet unidentified body was pulled from the River Wensum by underwater search teams on Friday morning. Police have said there is no evidence of third party involvement.
A Norfolk Police spokesperson said: “While the body hasn’t formally been identified, Gaynor’s family have been informed. They continue to be supported by specially trained officers.”
Police were seen marking out a specific part of the water earlier with an orange buoy earlier in the morning, around 100 metres down stream from where the focus of Thursday’s search took place.
In a statement to reporters after the discovery, Chief Superintendent Dave Buckley said: “We remain open-minded to the circumstances of Gaynor’s disappearance and we’ll continue to pursue all lines of inquiry to ascertain why she went missing. I’m keen to say this remains a missing person inquiry at this stage.
Ms Gaynor was reported missing after she failed to return home from work in Norwich city centre last Friday.
Key Points
Show latest update
Recap: Body pulled from river in search for missing Norwich mother Gaynor Lord
Specialist divers pulled a body from a river on Friday morning following a week-long search for missing mother-of-three Gaynor Lord.
Read the full report by Athena Stavrou
Sam Rkaina15 December 2023 23:00
Watch – CCTV shows missing mother’s last known moments
Gaynor Lord: CCTV shows missing mother’s last known moments
Lydia Patrick15 December 2023 22:00
Why did she leave work early?
Ms Lord was at work in Jarrolds department store in Bedford Street, Norwich.
Her shift on Friday was due to end at 4pm but instead she left more than an hour early at 2.45pm. So far, Police have been unable to explain why, and have been informed by friends and family her behaviour was out of character.
Chief Superintendant Dave Buckley gave a media briefing yesterday, he said: “We can’t explain some of her behaviour that day. We’re working really closely with family, with friends, with anybody else who might have had contact with her in the recent days or weeks to try and understand why this might have happened.
“People are very shocked by what’s happened. Nobody knows why she’s done what she’s done.”
Gaynor Lord (Norfolk Police/PA)
((Norfolk Police/PA))
Lydia Patrick15 December 2023 19:00
Watch – Friend of Gaynor Lord details last call from missing mother
Friend of Gaynor Lord details last call from missing mother
Lydia Patrick15 December 2023 18:30
Was she behaving out of character?
Leaving work was early was unusual for Ms Lord, friends and family have told the police. The force added they “can’t explain” some of the missing woman’s behaviour in the CCTV footage.
One witness saw the 55-year-old ‘practicing yoga’ in the park around the time she went missing.
Rosie Richards said she saw a woman fitting the Ms Lord’s description in the park last Friday.
“She was sort of putting her coat down on the floor and sort of performing a yoga pose. It just seemed a bit off at this time because obviously it was starting to get dark,” Ms Richards added.
Detectives searching for Ms Lord say they have not been able to establish Ms Lord’s state of mind when she went missing with “any degree of confidence”.
Her friend Julie Butcher said she seemed “fine” when they last met on Tuesday last week.
“We were talking. She was a bit busy but we were talking about Christmas and she seemed fine, no different to the usual Gaynor. She was quite upbeat and happy,” Ms Butcher told the BBC.
(PA/Norfolk Police)
Lydia Patrick15 December 2023 18:00
The latest police update as officers confirmed they found a body
Gaynor Lord police give update after body found in search for missing mother
Police have said there is no evidence of third-party involvement after a body was found in the search for missing mother-of-three Gaynor Lord. Norfolk Police said the body of a female was recovered from the River Wensum in Norwich on Friday (15 December), a week after she disappeared. Two members of the dive team could be seen recovering the body from the river in Norwich on Friday after marking the area of water with an orange buoy. In a statement to reporters after the discovery, Chief Superintendent Dave Buckley said: “We remain open-minded to the circumstances of Gaynor’s disappearance and we’ll continue to pursue all lines of inquiry to ascertain why she went missing.”
Lydia Patrick15 December 2023 17:30
What happened to her possessions?
Police have found a number of her belongings scattered in Wensum Park next to the river where they are conducting the main search.
Clothing, a mobile phone and glasses were found dispersed around the park 1.5 miles from her workplace in a department store. Her coat was found in the River Wensum itself.
A body was recovered from the river during the search for Gaynor Lord on Friday (Family handout/PA)
(PA Media)
Lydia Patrick15 December 2023 17:00
The Dean of Norwich, The Very Revd Dr Andrew Braddock, has offered his support to the family and invites those affected by the tragedy to find respite at Norwich Cathedral.
Lydia Patrick15 December 2023 16:30
The missed call to a friend
On the day Ms Lord disappeared, her friend Ms Butcher said she was called by her twice.
The first call she received was at 2.15pm, 30 minutes before Ms Lord left her place of work early, Ms Butcher told LBC.
She says Ms Lord was calling to ask her whereabouts. Ms Butcher picked up but said she had to go as she was sorting her internet and and a client called her, but she would return the call.
When she tried to return the call a few minutes later and then again after more time had passed, she could not get through, she told the broadcaster.
She received another call at 4.15pm, 15 minutes after she was last seen on CCTV, which sounded like a pocket dial, Ms Butcher said.
“I keep going over the conversation,” Ms Butcher said. “If I hadn’t answered that call [from her client] would she have talked to me? I feel terrible. I feel so sorry for the family.
“It’s not like Gaynor to do this,” she told the BBC.
Gaynor Lord: Friend of missing mother details last call
(Sky News)
Lydia Patrick15 December 2023 16:00
Timeline of last known movements of missing mother-of-three Gaynor Lord
Police have been carrying out a massive search for mother-of-three Gaynor Lord who has been missing for more than six days after leaving early from her work at a Norwich department store.
Here is a timeline of what we know of the last movements of the 55-year-old and of the investigation by Norfolk Constabulary into her disappearance in Norwich.
Lydia Patrick15 December 2023 15:40