Found Deceased UK - Gaynor Lord was last seen in Norwich city centre on London Street heading towards Norwich Cathedral, 2:35 pm, 8 December 2023

[Officer Dibble]

Gaynor Lord eyewitness who saw missing mother take off her coat before performing yoga pose in park moments before she disappeared says she 'seemed calm' but her behaviour was 'a bit off' - as search enters sixth day​

​

A witness who allegedly saw missing Gaynor Lord shortly before she vanished has revealed she saw her put her coat on the ground of a park and perform a yoga pose.

Rosie Richards said she saw a woman fitting Mrs Lord's description at Wensum Park in Norwich last Friday afternoon and described her as appearing 'quite calm'.

But the witness, who lives nearby, claimed something 'just seemed a bit off' because it was getting dark at the time around 4pm. Mrs Lord's personal effects were later found at the park and her coat was in the River Wensum, which runs through it.

Ms Richards told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'To me she seemed quite calm. 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.'

[…]

Another witness saw a woman who could have been twice-married Mrs Lord in the park at around 4pm. They said she 'removed her coat and performed a yoga pose'.

[…]

Gaynor Lord eyewitness says missing mother was behaving unusually

Gaynor Lord, 55, was last seen on Friday afternoon after she left work early from Norwich city centre. The Missing mother-of-three's personal effects were later found at Wensum Park.

www.dailymail.co.uk

BBM: Thank you for sharing this. This is very helpful to know. So she did put her coat down and performed a 'sort of yoga pose'. I wish she would reinact this yoga pose for us JMO MOO

 

[Officer Dibble]

As mentioned above, I believe today will be the second day of divers in the water, but before this there were boat searches from above.

I don’t want to be a gawker, but I do have today off to do some Christmas shopping and had intended to pop into the TK Maxx near the sluice, so I may subtly see where the search extends to. Hoping she is found.

Thanks, do report back. See if you can find out from someone (a reporter?) what the witness meant by a sort of yoga pose if you can.

 

[Smccat]

The whole rushing thing on cctv.
Just thoughts really.

For most people to leave work without telling anyone or clearing it with a boss you would be on a strong warning so it feels like she wasn’t bothered about that OR didn’t have the time to ask as she got a text of voicemail about something. If that happened to me I’d text boss en route quickly just to cover myself. No time to do that.

Who are you meeting that you need to rush and can’t text to say be there soon on way now and then go fast but without running and nearly getting yourself hit by a car.

Something had a start and / or end time.

Sun down at 4:12pm.

Last Friday was Chanukah on the Jewish calendar. Otherwise knows as The Festival of Lights where i believe candles are lit daily for 8 days through to 15th. Wonder if there was anything to do with this.

The candles are normally lit in the home with family.

 

[Officer Dibble]

Could GL have been having a panic attack at work, hence left the counter at work in a running walk rush, ended up possibily inside Cathedral (to try to calm down) then did Yoga to try to calm down, but got hot (mental health situation?) and was doing yoga by the waters edge and just slipped in? JMO MOO

 

[Lucy6226]

Could GL have been having a panic attack at work, hence left the counter at work in a running walk rush, ended up possibily inside Cathedral (to try to calm down) then did Yoga to try to calm down, but got hot (mental health situation?) and was doing yoga by the waters edge and just slipped in? JMO MOO

Who does yoga in their underwear in December? The clothes being left suggest it's not an accident imo.

The CCTV at work shows her smiling, although this could be a mask. It's all so strange

 

[Officer Dibble]

We discussed yesterday the light item in her left hand (same arm as coat was held over) and thought it looked like a slightly undone umbrella. You wouldn't bother taking an umbrella if you were in a state of despair and wanted to end it all. JMO MOO

 

[WiseOwl]

Could GL have been having a panic attack at work, hence left the counter at work in a running walk rush, ended up possibily inside Cathedral (to try to calm down) then did Yoga to try to calm down, but got hot (mental health situation?) and was doing yoga by the waters edge and just slipped in? JMO MOO

Don't forget all of Gaynor's clothing except for her underwear had been discarded, it's extremely unlikely she would be doing yoga in her undies in a dark park of a Friday evening.

It's more likely she had decided to self-harm (leaving her clothing so it would be known where she was last seen) or possibly developed hypothermia due to the cold, discarded her clothing and ending up in the water.

 

[WiseOwl]

Who does yoga in their underwear in December? The clothes being left suggest it's not an accident imo.

The CCTV at work shows her smiling, although this could be a mask. It's all so strange

Looking at the picture of Gaynor smiling as she's leaving work, if you look closely at the bottom left of the picture you can see the top of someone's head. I think Gaynor is smiling at this person as she leaves the store, i really don't think there is anything more to it than that.

 

[ginnyw]

It's a strange one - she does look quite radiant in that clip of her leaving work, and the subsequent footage just looks like a woman zipping about town on various errands. What a terrible time for her daughters.

 

[Lucy6226]

Looking at the picture of Gaynor smiling as she's leaving work, if you look closely at the bottom left of the picture you can see the top of someone's head. I think Gaynor is smiling at this person as she leaves the store, i really don't think there is anything more to it than that.

That's a fair point and what I meant by masking, putting on a face for others. Although this would be difficult to do during a panic attack imo as suggested by Dibble above.

 

[Moonstrawbs]

Just to touch on comments on why the water and not jumping in front of a car. As a psychology student, I have looked into the relationship between humans and water and while it can't be said for every individual, there has been a lot of research as to how some people are attracted to water in moments of distress. Therapeutic benefits of nature such as ecotherapy or green therapy are recognised and provide steady evidence of how bodies of water can provide solace and help improve mental health, in some stances this can create a sort of pull and attraction between the individual and the body of water. JMO.

 

[RachelGellarsHair]

- Why would someone leave work early?

- Why would someone leave via a loading bay rather than a proper entrance & exit?

- Why would someone go to a cathedral in the middle of the day when they should be at work?

- Why would someone remove their two rings, clothes and coat?

 

[WiseOwl]

That's a fair point and what I meant by masking, putting on a face for others. Although this would be difficult to do during a panic attack imo as suggested by Dibble above.

I did understand your point about masking, but (and it's just MOO of course) i really do think she is just smiling at the person in the bottom left of the picture.

Also i don't think Gaynor is having a panic attack but she certainly is in a hurry to get somewhere after she left work. It seems likely the cathedral was her destination, but why? To meet someone? To go to a religious service? Maybe she just needed to use their bathroom facilities, hence the rush to get there?

 

[JosieJo]

Personally I feel there would only be 2 scenarios here ...either someone placed her things near the water to throw police off the scent of foul play
Or sadly she was having a mental health crisis.
As she was seen alive at 4pm in the park and her belongings were discovered soon after it makes foul play extremely unlikely imo

 

[Kassanddra]

The discussion about jumping in front of a car, honestly walking from Jarrolds through the city and ending up at Wensum Park. There is no road fast enough to jump in front of a car and it have fatal consequences.

 

[Kassanddra]

Re the Cathedral and the Police Statement; I think they know she didn’t go inside any of the buildings. Firstly they would have cctv I am sure, secondly their wording in the statement:

“We are particularly keen on hearing from anyone who may have seen Gaynor in the cathedral grounds which she enters at 2.50pm and leaves at 3.23pm. It’s not clear where she goes inside the cathedral grounds during this time so we’re keen to hear from anyone who may have seen her there”

Edited just to add the grounds are massive. And it does cut through to the river on the other side and another part of Norwich.

I really don’t think she went there for any religious reasons, I am sure IMO she met someone. And the taking off of rings is significant. MOO

 

[Kassanddra]

I am sorry for all the replies!! This is so close to home for me, based on the timeline she would have walked right past my work possibly just after I left (st Augustine’s st) I left about 3:15. Our cctv only covers the front porch area, doesn’t point outwards.

 

[Firstsnow4]

Don't forget all of Gaynor's clothing except for her underwear had been discarded, it's extremely unlikely she would be doing yoga in her undies in a dark park of a Friday evening.

It's more likely she had decided to self-harm (leaving her clothing so it would be known where she was last seen) or possibly developed hypothermia due to the cold, discarded her clothing and ending up in the water.

I havent been on here for a long time due to personal reasons but have been following this case. Is there a possibility that she has staged the scene so that she can start a new life elsewhere (with the person she may have met in the cathedral perhaps)? I’m wondering whether she got changed in the cathedral (put a layer of clothes on underneath her work outfit) then discarded the outer layer at the park. Not sure why of course? Just surmising. JMO.

 

[spangled]

Rather than a deliberate attempt at self harm, I wonder if she was experiencing a manic episode?

That could explain looking so euphoric leaving work... and possibly the religious connection.

How Bipolar Disorder Can Create Harmful Delusions With Religion

One challenge in bipolar disorder treatment is determining where the line is between supportive spirituality and harmful religious delusions. Learn the signs.

www.verywellmind.com

It also would explain taking all the clothes and jewellery off, if you wanted to go swimming (in a logical mind) you WOULD take everything off. So may have still done it whilst not thinking logically.

 

[brodyxlove]

Edited just to add the grounds are massive. And it does cut through to the river on the other side and another part of Norwich.

If she was planning to take her own life and had decided on the river, I wonder if she went to scout out the river near Cow Tower and the Cathedral was just the easiest cut-through? I walk that part of the river frequently with a coffee as I find it relaxing, and always use the Cathedral gates entrance as it's awkward to get it from the other direction.

I had figured she was putting her coat back on as she may have gone inside, but what if she had taken off her coat/clothes like she later did at Wensum Park, but found that part of the river not suitable for whatever reason? The river there is more overlooked/slower flowing/narrower.

Rather than her spending 30 minutes within the cathedral, it's a good 10 minutes to walk from the gates down to the river, scout it out for 10 minutes before deciding it wasn't suitable, and then another 10 minutes walking back?