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

[UK Girl]

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.

If you mean could she been on trial for something then not really as you would normally have to be there a lot earlier in the day for that

 

[Detective_Popcorn]

If you mean could she been on trial for something then not really as you would normally have to be there a lot earlier in the day for that

Plus obviously the court would know if she had an appointment there, no?

 

[UK Girl]

Plus obviously the court would know if she had an appointment there, no?

yes of course

 

[NextSprint]

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.

Just speculation but she also could have visited a court hearing as a member of public. The only Crown Court case that was being heard at that time is this one.

 

[SMK777]

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.

When people have their Facebook page set to private and friends only, if you’re not a friend you see nothing but old posts from years ago. Had it happen many times.

 

[Lincoln34]

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.

Plausible - but who finds a bag in a park at night? I love parks - there is one near me next to the river in Chester which has the only extant Roman rock cut shrine to Minerva in situ and I love it -but would not venture in after dark !

 

[NextSprint]

Plausible - but who finds a bag in a park at night? I love parks - there is one near me next to the river in Chester which has the only extant Roman rock cut shrine to Minerva in situ and I love it -but would not venture in after dark !

Sorry but any barrister would tear this statement to shreds:

"She was sort of putting her coat down on the floor and sort of performing a yoga pose."

Was she putting her coat down on the floor, or wasn't she? Was she performing a yoga pose, or wasn't she? "Sort of" just brings into doubt the legitimacy of this sighting IMO.

 

[Detective_Popcorn]

Sorry but any barrister would tear this statement to shreds:

"She was sort of putting her coat down on the floor and sort of performing a yoga pose."

Was she putting her coat down on the floor, or wasn't she? Was she performing a yoga pose, or wasn't she? "Sort of" just brings into doubt the legitimacy of this sighting IMO.

She's not in court, just talking to the media. And obviously not trained or coached. This is just the lazy way some people talk - "sorta" this, "kinda" that.

If she hadn't put her coat on the floor or done a yoga pose, I don't think the witness would have mentioned them as things she didn't do.

 

[NextSprint]

She's not in court, just talking to the media. And obviously not trained or coached. This is just the lazy way some people talk - "sorta" this, "kinda" that.

If she hadn't put her coat on the floor or done a yoga pose, I don't think the witness would have mentioned them as things she didn't do.

It just sounds like she doesn't have a clue what she's talking about. All I can deduce from that is the woman she saw had a coat that might have been on the floor, and that the woman might have also been doing something stretchy.

But it's been taken on face value as "definitely Gaynor" and "definitely yoga", which is harmful as if it wasn't Gaynor then it's huge red herring. JMO.

 

[MollyHarps]

It just sounds like she doesn't have a clue what she's talking about. All I can deduce from that is the woman she saw had a coat that might have been on the floor, and that the woman might have also been doing something stretchy.

But it's been taken on face value as "definitely Gaynor" and "definitely yoga", which is harmful as if it wasn't Gaynor then it's huge red herring. JMO.

This is why she should not have spoken to the media.

Just report it to the police and let them decide if it is relevant to the case.

This is not a soap opera it’s somebodies life - she’s a mother and wife and her family will be broken right now.

 

[Arcadienne]

Many pre-suicidal people feel elated before the calm, before they kill themselves. She went to the cathedral for perhaps a time of quiet and self-reflection, to pray or ask for forgiveness.

She took off her outerwear, and left her jewellery for her family. She kept her coat on for the weight and initial defence against the cold of the water. The "yoga" nonsense was probably someone still and in prayer.

God bless her and her family.

 

[lji]

Think I’m right in saying that it’s a tradition in the Japanese culture to remove most/all clothing and jewellery before committing suicide, as seen in the James Blunt video for You’re Beautiful, where he removes clothes and jewellery before jumping off a cliff into the sea.

No idea if she had any Japanese connections or interests, just a thought though.

 

[MollyHarps]

Many pre-suicidal people feel elated before the calm, before they kill themselves. She went to the cathedral for perhaps a time of quiet and self-reflection, to pray or ask for forgiveness.

She took off her outerwear, and left her jewellery for her family. She kept her coat on for the weight and initial defence against the cold of the water. The "yoga" nonsense was probably someone still and in prayer.

God bless her and her family.

I fully agree with you - this is my take on what happened to. I think taking off clothes and leaving jewellery and her bag could also have been a sign so her family knew she was in the river in case her body was not found quickly.

I echo your sentiments to her family to.

I just hope Gaynor is found quickly so this does not end up in a media circus like in NBs case.

 

[DetectiBamby]

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.



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.

I was thinking the same. Why on earth would you go to Wensum Park in particular? Especially in the dark. There's a lot nicer parks. I did hear that she had spent a lot of time there as a child so that explains it for me . It's not looking great . Poor Woman and her family I really feel for them especially this time of Year.

 

[lji]

Many pre-suicidal people feel elated before the calm, before they kill themselves. She went to the cathedral for perhaps a time of quiet and self-reflection, to pray or ask for forgiveness.

She took off her outerwear, and left her jewellery for her family. She kept her coat on for the weight and initial defence against the cold of the water. The "yoga" nonsense was probably someone still and in prayer.

God bless her and her family.

This is exactly how I think the situation played out. All of that makes perfect sense, coupled with what the police have said about having ‘some indication’ why she left work early and behaved the way that she did

 

[DetectiBamby]

Sorry but any barrister would tear this statement to shreds:

"She was sort of putting her coat down on the floor and sort of performing a yoga pose."

Was she putting her coat down on the floor, or wasn't she? Was she performing a yoga pose, or wasn't she? "Sort of" just brings into doubt the legitimacy of this sighting IMO.

This. Exactly. Its been bugging me too but didn't want to say anything. The Girl seems to be enjoying the limelight, she's been all over the papers and I saw was on a big daytime TV programme earlier ( which I don't watch ) .

 

[MollyHarps]

Think I’m right in saying that it’s a tradition in the Japanese culture to remove most/all clothing and jewellery before committing suicide, as seen in the James Blunt video for You’re Beautiful, where he removes clothes and jewellery before jumping off a cliff into the sea.

No idea if she had any Japanese connections or interests, just a thought though.

That’s a really good observation

I was not aware of this but you could definitely be onto something.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

hari kari (sappuku) is also a Japanese cultural ritual. But we have zero indication to even posit this theory, no? we're grasping with no evidence.

(points if you know the hair kari scene in the film, Harold & Maude)

 

[martinwatts5]

In my opinion all of the recent comments are spot on. If any foul play was thought to be involved we would have heard by now. It is now a waiting game like the NB case with the difference being the discarded clothes. Some of the explanations for the clothes seem plausible but we don’t have the information at this stage to be certain.

 

[ginnyw]

If I was viewing the CCTV footage without any knowledge at all, I wouid think: woman rushing early from work with purpose and slight euphoria to meet somebody in the area of the cathedral, then coming out of meeting looking dejected, like she had unwelcome news or was let down. Had somebody promised her something life-changing but then couldn't follow through? MOO.