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

[RichardKimble]

Websleuths is mentioned here MSN

Watching the watchers.

 

[ginnyw]

I still find it odd to consider this a planned suicide, because she didn't go straight to the river in a focused way and the running to the cathedral and doing of yoga was also strange. She's clearly smiling in some of the stills on the way there too. Then there's the shedding of clothes in the park, or presumably, as that's where they were found. Not by the river. Except for the coat - the coat that somebody said they saw her doing yoga on. I don't know - usually I'm kind of with the Occam's Razor theory but this one has some very strange aspects to it. Whatever has happened, I do hope that her family are soon put out of their anguish, although of course it will only lead to another sort.

 

[UK Girl]

I still find it odd to consider this a planned suicide, because she didn't go straight to the river in a focused way and the running to the cathedral and doing of yoga was also strange. She's clearly smiling in some of the stills on the way there too. Then there's the shedding of clothes in the park, or presumably, as that's where they were found. Not by the river. Except for the coat - the coat that somebody said they saw her doing yoga on. I don't know - usually I'm kind of with the Occam's Razor theory but this one has some very strange aspects to it. Whatever has happened, I do hope that her family are soon put out of their anguish, although of course it will only lead to another sort.

tbh I thought she could have been smiling as she had her plan in place and would soon be over. Likewise the yoga pose maybe it was to relax her before doing what she intended to do.

 

[Kassanddra]

I agree @ginnyw if it was just cctv, walked to park, coat found in river, it would be more of a straightforward ‘guess’ as to what happened.

It’s the other things that went on. The cathedral stop off, the clothes and bag/phone/rings found ‘scattered’

Leaving work early - although I guess this could be a genuine reason and have nothing to do with the disappearance.

 

[Kassanddra]

I did put it earlier but I do wonder if she took her outer clothes off to go for a swim (why? I have no idea)
Got out, put coat on as it’s so cold, then slipped in accidentally with the coat on/half on.

 

[Dcflag]

We don’t know she was doing yoga, yoga like poses doesn’t mean that’s what she was doing. She could very well have been praying. Likewise, smiling doesn’t mean anything.

I do think it’s actually quite compelling she went to the cathedral before the park as some kind of means to find some kind of peace. I also think the fact she has scattered her belongings quite significant. She chose not to take her rings with her. She left her bag with identification in. She wasn’t disappearing, she wanted to be found and her belongings to be found.

I don’t find any of it suspicious to be honest.

 

[Officer Dibble]

I want to ask if anyone else thinks she IS NOT in the water there, but since they are diving the area, I am forced to think that they have good reason to do so. I will be kinda surprised if they find her there and yet, that seems to be the theory. Odd one, this.

There are many possibilities

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

of course, they could be looking for anything else that might be connected (i.e., something other than the obvious) in the water...

 

[FromGermany1]

I agree @ginnyw if it was just cctv, walked to park, coat found in river, it would be more of a straightforward ‘guess’ as to what happened.

It’s the other things that went on. The cathedral stop off, the clothes and bag/phone/rings found ‘scattered’

Leaving work early - although I guess this could be a genuine reason and have nothing to do with the disappearance.

I now saw the video of her and her route, and I noticed, that GL was even running before her visit at the Cathedral, and after her visit she didn't take time to put on her coat while stopping at one place, but she put it on while further walking very fast. She even hadn't time to take her bag from her shoulder, but put the coat over the shoulder straps (if I saw it well). Normally no one without a reason is rushing from A to B to C that fast, IMO. She runs, as if the next bus was driving away from right in front of her.

 

[Officer Dibble]

We don’t know she was doing yoga, yoga like poses doesn’t mean that’s what she was doing. She could very well have been praying. Likewise, smiling doesn’t mean anything.

I do think it’s actually quite compelling she went to the cathedral before the park as some kind of means to find some kind of peace. I also think the fact she has scattered her belongings quite significant. She chose not to take her rings with her. She left her bag with identification in. She wasn’t disappearing, she wanted to be found and her belongings to be found.

I don’t find any of it suspicious to be honest.

Hi Dcflag. Apparently she went to the Cathedral area. Unless I'm behind on facts. One of the members mentioned on here there is a school, some businesses and some homes all in the Cathedral park area.

 

[JTT]

Gaynor Lord: Police release CCTV of missing mother ‘last seen doing yoga’ in park

Underwater search teams are continuing to scour the River Wensum after the mother failed to return home from work on Friday

www.independent.co.uk

"The mother-of-three was seen leaving work six days ago and walking through Norwich city centre in a hurry before last being seen in Winsum Park.

'We’ve got some indications as to why she behaved the way in which she did but what we’re doing is we’re just working backwards now to actually truly understand what may have taken place,” Chief Superintendent Dave Buckley told reporters.

'We’re just cautious of everything we know at the moment because clearly we’ve ended up in the situation we have which is not usual.

'I don’t think any of the conversations we’ve had are completely informing us as to why her state of mind ended up being what it was.' "

I post this for interest. At first I thought hmmm, this is interesting, that the Chief Superintendent speaks as if he knows her state of mind and he's trying to find out the reasons why it may have so developed. But then I realised it would be wise not to ascribe too much worth to a textual deconstruction of his statement. Clearly making public statements isn't his strong point. E.g. he says "cautious of everything we know" [sic], and there other words that could be picked at too, but let's cut him some slack.

The media are going large on the yoga. The Independent (in the above-linked piece) say "witnesses say she was doing yoga in the park just before she went missing", but AFAIAA no other witness is cited other than Rosie Richards. And who knows what the police make of her testimony? Is it so weird to do yoga in a park in twilight anyway? I don't think so, but Ms Richards clearly does. People do all sorts of things in parks. But I'm not even convinced the person Ms Richards saw was GL.

It seems likely that someone handed GL's bag in and the police then called at her house to return it, and then when they realised she hadn't come home they went and looked in the park and found her other items.

 

[ginnyw]

We don’t know she was doing yoga, yoga like poses doesn’t mean that’s what she was doing. She could very well have been praying. Likewise, smiling doesn’t mean anything.

I do think it’s actually quite compelling she went to the cathedral before the park as some kind of means to find some kind of peace. I also think the fact she has scattered her belongings quite significant. She chose not to take her rings with her. She left her bag with identification in. She wasn’t disappearing, she wanted to be found and her belongings to be found.

I don’t find any of it suspicious to be honest.

I find it odd, rather than suspicious, particularly the running to the cathedral. That to me is the oddest bit. I guess more will come out over the next few days - whether there were problems at home, etc.

 

[Dcflag]

Hi Dcflag. Apparently she went to the Cathedral area. Unless I'm behind on facts. One of the members mentioned on here there is a school, some businesses and some homes all in the Cathedral park area.

Some of the cctv footage is within the cathedral grounds. Police don’t seem to be overly concerned about the time spent on the grounds which suggests to me they are aware she was there and what she may or may not have been doing there.

It is a popular meeting ground, so there is the possibility that she met someone specifically. There is also a service I believe 3-4pm she might have been trying to be a part of.

I don’t often wander down the cathedral way but I would expect cctv down the sides and back of the grounds. There’s the courthouse among other things like the school, that I would expect to cover the general area if she had gone outside of it.

 

[Dcflag]

I find it odd, rather than suspicious, particularly the running to the cathedral. That to me is the oddest bit. I guess more will come out over the next few days - whether there were problems at home, etc.

For me it just indicates she had a purpose for where she was headed, whether meeting someone, trying to hit a church service, aiming to be at the park by a certain time etc etc.

Gaynor Lord: Police release CCTV of missing mother ‘last seen doing yoga’ in park

Underwater search teams are continuing to scour the River Wensum after the mother failed to return home from work on Friday

www.independent.co.uk

"The mother-of-three was seen leaving work six days ago and walking through Norwich city centre in a hurry before last being seen in Winsum Park.

'We’ve got some indications as to why she behaved the way in which she did but what we’re doing is we’re just working backwards now to actually truly understand what may have taken place,” Chief Superintendent Dave Buckley told reporters.

'We’re just cautious of everything we know at the moment because clearly we’ve ended up in the situation we have which is not usual.

'I don’t think any of the conversations we’ve had are completely informing us as to why her state of mind ended up being what it was.' "

I post this for interest. At first I thought hmmm, this is interesting, that the Chief Superintendent speaks as if he knows her state of mind and he's trying to find out the reasons why it may have so developed. But then I realised it would be wise not to ascribe too much worth to a textual deconstruction of his statement. Clearly making public statements isn't his strong point. E.g. he says "cautious of everything we know" [sic], and there other words that could be picked at too, but let's cut him some slack.

The media are going large on the yoga. The Independent (in the above-linked piece) say "witnesses say she was doing yoga in the park just before she went missing", but AFAIAA no other witness is cited other than Rosie Richards. And who knows what the police make of her testimony? Is it so weird to do yoga in a park in twilight anyway? I don't think so, but Ms Richards clearly does. People do all sorts of things in parks. But I'm not even convinced the person Ms Richards saw was GL.

It seems likely that someone handed GL's bag in and the police then called at her house to return it, and then when they realised she hadn't come home they went and looked in the park and found her other items.

I honestly think the yoga thing has been blown way out of proportion. She could’ve decided to sit down, taking her coat off so she’s not sitting on the wet grass. She could’ve been praying, she could’ve been standing with her arms raised, all comes under (for me) a yoga pose. What I would say is that I don’t know wensum park would be my choice of park unless the river was key. There is the park on angel road which is big, much more secluded in areas and very pretty for walking, or yoga if you choose. With pavements and shelter and tennis court areas etc (and no more of a walk than wensum). The only other place I can think of that’s similar to wensum with the river is by dolphin bridge but is further to walk to from the city (unless you were closer to the cathedral retail park - which is named that because of its proximity to a completely different cathedral!) most other parts of the river aren’t as secluded and are more walkways/near the train station/pubs etc

I think that police statement is quite telling, and fits quite well with a state of mind being key here. They know she was distressed in some way, they just don’t have the information why she may have been distressed imo.

 

[FromGermany1]

Some of the cctv footage is within the cathedral grounds. Police don’t seem to be overly concerned about the time spent on the grounds which suggests to me they are aware she was there and what she may or may not have been doing there.

It is a popular meeting ground, so there is the possibility that she met someone specifically. There is also a service I believe 3-4pm she might have been trying to be a part of.

I don’t often wander down the cathedral way but I would expect cctv down the sides and back of the grounds. There’s the courthouse among other things like the school, that I would expect to cover the general area if she had gone outside of it.

bbm
Could GL have had a court date in the courthouse? And had to be on time, therefore rushing the whole way?
That would make the most sense to me. It would also make sense, that her colleagues didn't know, why she left the store 75 min. earlier than usual.

 

[JTT]

* Leaving work 1hr 15mins early - this draws attention from other staff and management, imo suicide unlikely

She isn't a staff member at Jarrolds. She runs a concession. The concession seems to have been set to close at either 3pm or 4pm depending on which page referencing Jarrolds at the Bullards website you read. Sounds like the same sort of arrangement they have in Selfridges in London.

 

[Dcflag]

bbm
Could GL have had a court date in the courthouse? And had to be on time, therefore rushing the whole way?
That would make the most sense to me. It would also make sense, that her colleagues didn't know, why she left the store 75 min. earlier than usual.

I imagine you could check the court listing for the day but for me, I feel like you wouldn’t go in or through the cathedral grounds to get to the courthouse. You’d just walk straight past and turn right, it’s a short way in front from there.

 

[JTT]

Just wanted to comment that Gaynor looking happy/smiling when leaving work, doesn't equate to suicide being unlikely, or no signs of it. A few years ago on mental health training I learnt that a common phenomenon prior to someone attempting/completing suicide is an apparent uplift in mood, seeming happier etc. This is due to the fact that the person has made a plan, and feels somewhat relieved by it.

<modsnip: Please don't discuss other members>

Her walking briskly could also be due to the fact that she had a plan. Of course there could be many other reasons; wanted to get out of the busy town environment, feeling stressed etc.

I also think it's not surprising that her husband refused to comment - *to press*. Remember what was said about NB's partner, just awful. Also he is probably beside himself, concerned for his daughters, feels unable to speak and so on.

He doesn't have to comment to the media (whether Fleet Street or Facebook - or for that matter talk to the police either) if he doesn't want to, and high stress affects different people in different ways. <modsnip - not victim friendly>Apparently a family member who wants to remain anonymous is talking too:

Gaynor Lord family slam internet ghouls for speculating disappearance

Outlandish theories on social media include a serial killer on the loose who murdered Nicola Bulley earlier this year before striking in Norwich and a rapist attacking the mother-of-three.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[JTT]

bbm
Could GL have had a court date in the courthouse? And had to be on time, therefore rushing the whole way?
That would make the most sense to me. It would also make sense, that her colleagues didn't know, why she left the store 75 min. earlier than usual.

A court date is unlikely at that time of day.

 

[FromGermany1]

I imagine you could check the court listing for the day but for me, I feel like you wouldn’t go in or through the cathedral grounds to get to the courthouse. You’d just walk straight past and turn right, it’s a short way in front from there.

I'm hoping, another member will be so nice to look it up. Mostly I have no access.
Maybe, nobody should see her walking straight to the courthouse?