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

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The difference is the removal of much of her clothing first, I guess. Nicola was fully clothed on a steep muddy bank, so a slipping accident could have been possible. This lady had had her rings removed or removed them herself. It's a very strange one.
Unless rings were removed for the missing 30 or so minutes in the Cathedral area? Were they found in a pocket or just discarded? I've missed that information.
 
Very strange ringing a friend asking where she was on the day of going missing when that friend sounds more like a casual acquaintance...saying she'll ring in spring to play tennis sounds like she wasn't planning on meeting up or seeing this friend before then. Getting stranger by the minute!
 
Unless rings were removed for the missing 30 or so minutes in the Cathedral area? Were they found in a pocket or just discarded? I've missed that information.
Not sure the police have given much detail yet but various reports today said that her clothes and jewellery were found in the park at around 8pm (see Norwich Evening News live updates page).
 
Very strange ringing a friend asking where she was on the day of going missing when that friend sounds more like a casual acquaintance...saying she'll ring in spring to play tennis sounds like she wasn't planning on meeting up or seeing this friend before then. Getting stranger by the minute!
Sounds like perhaps she needed a friend in that moment to talk through a conundrum with. Something must have been troubling her. JMO
 
Not sure the police have given much detail yet but various reports today said that her clothes and jewellery were found in the park at around 8pm (see Norwich Evening News live updates page).
Thank you. So the rings could have been found in a pocket then. I'm going with took the rings off for the missing 30 minutes possibly meeting someone.
 
Gaynor's Facebook - Unless i'm looking at the wrong one the last and only post is from 2012 and she has 34 friends? Seems like someone who barely used it. Probably met Julie after 2012 and maybe hasn't used Facebook since. I've met and lost contact with a ton of people in the last 11-12 years so it's not unusual she has none of these people in her friends list.

ETA: She doesn't even have her kids on there.
 
No matter, what - I'm thankful, that GL's friend came forward to tell something, only she would have known! It may help. :)
What they must all have been going through. I only became aware of this story yesterday and yet they've all been going through it since last Friday. Wouldn't it be so, so nice if it turned out to be a miraculous ending and not, for once, the most likely scenario (or what always looks like it when a river is nearby).
 
Does anyone remember the case of Sally Allen? She was about early 60s, and on boxing day she put on her coat and shoes, left the family home and walked 10 plus miles or something to a river/canal and drowned. It reminds me of this, just so...motivated to get there.
 
17:18

What we know so far​

1702574725929.jpeg
Shaun Whitmore/BBCCopyright: Shaun Whitmore/BBC
  • Specialist divers again searched the River Wensum close to where Gaynor Lord's belongings were found scattered across Wensum Park on Friday night
  • Norfolk Police have consulted detectives from Lancashire Police who investigated the disappearance of Nicola Bulley earlier this year
  • Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and a specialist team form Lincolnshire Police have also been helping the force with the search
  • Officers from Norfolk Constabulary have also been searching an area of wasteland nearby while Lancashire Fire and Rescue were spotted at New Mills Yard pumping station about 0.7 miles (1.2km) downstream
  • Ms Lord left work at Jarrolds department store early at 14:45 GMT
  • She phoned a friend twice on Friday afternoon at about 14:15 and 16:15 but the second call is thought to have been a pocket dial
  • She was seen on CCTV rushing through Norwich city centre and spent 33 minutes in the grounds of Norwich Cathedral before heading in the direction of Wensum Park
  • A witness in the park said she saw a woman matching Ms Lord's description in a "yoga pose" at about 16:00 and she seemed "calm"
  • Footage has been released of her final moments caught on CCTV as she walked up St Augustines Street
  • Police believe she may have entered the River Wensum and officers do not suspect "third party involvement"
  • It may take several days for river searches to be completed, police warned
 
15:15

A recap of where the police investigation is:​

Earlier we heard from Ch Supt Dave Buckley, who gave an update of where the police are in the search for missing Gaynor Lord.
  • Ch Supt Buckley said there was a "high probability" Ms Lord went into the River Wensum but said the search conditions in the water were very challenging, with divers only able to see about a foot in front of them
  • Specialist teams from Lincolnshire are assisting, he added, saying sonar equipment allows divers to search underwater in more detail
  • Ch Supt Buckley said the police are being really thorough in their search, as they want to be sure they are "missing nothing"
  • There is nothing from the CCTV to show police who Ms Lord may have spoken to, or interacted with, between leaving work and when she ended up in the park.
  • Releasing the CCTV clips to the public has not yielded any new leads
  • Ch Supt Buckley says they have spoken to colleagues from Lancashire Constabulary about their investigation into Nicola Bulley's disappearance earlier this year, saying "we will always learn from jobs which have happened before"
  • The officer said some of Ms Lord's behaviour has been "out of character" and the police are supporting her friends and family
 
Does anyone remember the case of Sally Allen? She was about early 60s, and on boxing day she put on her coat and shoes, left the family home and walked 10 plus miles or something to a river/canal and drowned. It reminds me of this, just so...motivated to get there.

Yes I always found that case quite haunting. She managed to hide her mental health issues from her family iirc.
 
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.
 
So very sad. Local feeling from what I’ve seen (and an opinion I share) is that this was a purposeful journey sadly.

The cathedral is quite touristy, and not one I’d go to particularly if I was overly religious, however it is super accessible so if you’re not particularly religious, but felt an urge to go to one for whatever reason, it’s a good, accessible choice.

I think the fact that she’s gone from the cathedral to the park by a very direct route, and seems a little erratic in walking suggests she had every intention of whatever she was doing/where she was going. I also feel like, in my own mind, if I had planned to go to a religious place and then to a park where I had perhaps anti life thoughts, I can see the logic in leaving work early to make sure I hit the park around the time it gets dark. Seeing that sunlight around the cathedral and for the walk but not when you want less attention.

I suspect the attention is down to the prior NB case and the similarities but I think there’s small signs here that she had an intent sadly.
 
So very sad. Local feeling from what I’ve seen (and an opinion I share) is that this was a purposeful journey sadly.

The cathedral is quite touristy, and not one I’d go to particularly if I was overly religious, however it is super accessible so if you’re not particularly religious, but felt an urge to go to one for whatever reason, it’s a good, accessible choice.

I think the fact that she’s gone from the cathedral to the park by a very direct route, and seems a little erratic in walking suggests she had every intention of whatever she was doing/where she was going. I also feel like, in my own mind, if I had planned to go to a religious place and then to a park where I had perhaps anti life thoughts, I can see the logic in leaving work early to make sure I hit the park around the time it gets dark. Seeing that sunlight around the cathedral and for the walk but not when you want less attention.

I suspect the attention is down to the prior NB case and the similarities but I think there’s small signs here that she had an intent sadly.
I think it is actually more similar to several other cases than NBs - at the start of NBs you could see why it gained media attention as somebody could have taken her etc whereas I feel this looks like Gaynor intended to complete suicide.

It reminds me a little bit of a local lady near me - Body parts of Hale woman Marie Scott have been discovered in Cheshire - Altrincham Today

She left home, boarded trams and was intent on taking her own life at the end of it.
 
This also reminds me of a case 2 years ago, where a lady (Janet Edwards) went missing in a small town in the southwest of England on the 10th December 2021.

She had been shopping in a local Dunelm store, then disappeared.....turns out she went to the River Wye and took her own life.

No-one in her jogging club or friendship circle came out to say she was depressed.

Her body was found 3 MONTHS later in the same river, 56 miles away.

 
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... I think the fact that she’s gone from the cathedral to the park by a very direct route, and seems a little erratic in walking suggests she had every intention of whatever she was doing/where she was going. ...
I wonder if what happened in the church (or failed to happen, like someone not showing up) may have made a difference.
 

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