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Specialist divers have found a body in the search for missing Norwich mother Gaynor Lord.
After a week of searching, Norfolk Police confirmed that the body was pulled from the River Wensum by underwater search teams on Friday morning.
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.
Police divers with flippers were already preparing to enter the water further along the river, but after a phone call was received, they packed up their kit and rediverted just after 11am.
Ms Gaynor was reported missing after she failed to return home from work in Norwich city centre last Friday.
CCTV footage captured her leaving Jarrolds department store over an hour before her shift was due to end and walking in a hurry towards Wensum Park.
Her belongings, including clothing, jewellery and her mobile phone, were later found by a member of the public that evening.
What happened to Lord Gaynor’s posessions?
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.
Chief Superintendent Dave Buckley from Norfolk Police said yesterday: “We’re putting sonar equipment across the river, which is quite detailed in allowing us to try and target divers to where we think there might be objects.
“But equally, it’s very, very challenging. The river is very, very full of water with all the rain, full of lots of debris. The divers can see about one foot in front of them.
“So it’s an extraordinarily challenging environment for them to work in so it’s slow, methodical at the moment, working with equipment and it will take probably a couple of days to get to a position where we’re kind of content with what we’ve done. It may even be longer.”
Since a body has been found in the search for the missing mother.
Police search teams on the River Wensum in Wensum Park, Norwich
Where was the body found?
Specialist divers have pulled a body from the river in their week-long search for missing mother Gaynor Lord.
The body was found in the River Wensum, which runs through the park Ms Lord’s belongings were found in last Friday.
According to local reports, the body was found several hundred metres south of the park.
Divers were seen diverting to a specific spot in the river marked out by an orange buoy at 11am this morning and the body was found nearby at around 12pm.
The spot is around 100 metres down stream from where the focus of Thursday’s search took place.
Family informed after police find body
While no formal identification has taken place on the body yet, police said Gaynor Lord’s family have been informed.
A body was recovered from the River Wensum by dive specialists on Friday, following a week of searching for the missing mother-of-three.
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.”
Underwater divers find body in river
Underwater divers have pulled a body from the River Wensum following a week of intense searching for Gaynor Lord.
Norfolk Police confirmed the find on Friday after divers were seen diverting to a specific spot in the river marked out by an orange buoy at 11am.
Divers were pictured pulling a a large object in black bag from the river next to where the buoy was positioned.
The force said: “Police searching for missing Norwich woman Gaynor Lord can confirm a body has been found in the River Wensum.
“While the body hasn’t formally been identified, Gaynor’s family have been informed. They continue to be supported by specially trained officers.”
Body found in search for missing mother
Norfolk Police have confirmed a body has been found in the search for Gaynor Lord on Friday morning.
The body was found in the river by underwater search teams this morning and has now been recovered from the water.
A 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.”
Gaynor Lord told colleague she ‘felt off’ before disappearance
A colleague of Gaynor Lord said she told them she felt “a bit off” before she disappeared last Friday.
The mother-of-three left work at Jarrolds department store over an hour early on the day she went missing.
CCTV captured her leaving at 2:45pm before walking through Norwich city centre before she was last seen at just after 4pm.
A shop assistant told The Sun that she “shook her hands” when she saw her on either Thursday or Friday and claimed Ms Lord said: “I feel a bit funny, a bit off today.”
Another colleague told the newspaper that the 55-year-old did not tell colleagues why she left early and said she didn’t show any signs of distress.
Dive team searching specific spot of river
Police have marked out a specific spot in the River Wensum this morning as they continue their search for Gaynor Lord.
A police diving team is checking a specific part of the river and an orange buoy has been placed on the spot on Friday morning.
The buoy was positioned at around 100 metres down stream from where the main focus of Thursday’s search for Ms Lord had taken place.
Divers with flippers could be seen ready to enter the water in a park area further along the river but after a phone call was received, their kit was packed up and personnel got back in their truck and rediverted.
An Environment Agency search boat was stationed next to the buoy on Friday morning as a dive team truck arrived at the area just after 11am.
Two members of the dive team could be seen surveying the area, appearing to check if the water was safe to enter.
Pictures: Gaynor Lord’s route through Norwich before disappearance
Police have released CCTV footage of Gaynor Lord in the hours before she went missing.
The mother-of-three left work early at Jarrolds department store at 2:45pm and was last seen by CCTV at 4:01pm walking up St Augustines Street.
Police later found her belongings scattered at Wensum Park, and are now searching the river that runs through the area.
In between, Ms Lord was seen jogging up streets in Norwich and spending some time on Norwich Cathedral grounds.
Here are pictures of her final known locations before she went missing:
At 2:46pm Gaynor Lord was seen leaving Jarrolds via the loading bay on Bedford Street
She then walks onto London Street past the Cosy Club at 2:47pm
She then made her way to Norwich Cathedral via Queens Street at 2:48pm
She leaves the cathedral through this archway 34 minutes later at 3:22pm
She then made her way to Wensum Park, where her scattered belongings were found
Search teams return to River Wensum as search continues
Norfolk Police search teams have been pictured returning to the water on Friday morning as the major search for Gaynor Lord continues into its seventh day.
Specialist underwater search teams have been deployed to scour the River Wensum, after the missing mother’s belongings were found in Wensum Park and her coat in the water on Friday.
Police are looking into multiple lines of inquiry but said they are confident that Ms Lord entered the water.
Gaynor Lord ‘seemed upbeat’ before disappearance
A friend of Gaynor Lord said that the missing mother seemed “upbeat” days before her mysterious disappearance.
Speaking to the BBC, Julie Butcher said Ms Lord seemed “fine” when they met on Tuesday last week - three days before her disappearance.
“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 said
Ms Butcher also told the BBC she spoke to her friend at 2.15pm on Friday but she had to cut the call short to speak to a client.
Ms Butcher said she returned the call but could not get through.
She then received another call form Ms Lord at 4.15pm but it “sounded like a pocket call – I could hear movement in her pocket”.
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2023-12-15 13:14:02Z
CBMiYmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmluZGVwZW5kZW50LmNvLnVrL25ld3MvdWsvaG9tZS1uZXdzL2dheW5vci1sb3JkLW1pc3NpbmctbXVtLW5vcndpY2gtY2N0di1iMjQ2NDUzMy5odG1s0gEA
