Woman found dead in river had watched show on cold water swimming – inquest

A mother-of-three whose body was recovered from a river after a week-long police search had recently watched a TV show about cold water swimming, an inquest heard.

Gaynor Lord, who was found dead in the River Wensum in Norwich, was on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for the menopause and medication for epilepsy, the coroner said.

The 55-year-old retail worker, who disappeared after leaving work early in Norwich city centre at 2.45pm on December 8 last year, had left her clothes and belongings in a park near the river.

Norfolk’s senior coroner Jacqueline Lake told Tuesday’s hearing in Norwich: “I have heard evidence she had recently watched a programme about cold water swimming and that was something she talked about in the recent past both with her husband and a friend.”

Ms Lake, recording a conclusion of death by misadventure, said that she was satisfied Ms Lord “intended to enter the water but I do find she didn’t intend to die by her actions”.

Ms Lord’s clothing, mobile phone, glasses and jewellery – including two rings, were discovered in Wensum Park on December 8 and she had earlier been captured on CCTV at locations around the city.

Detective Sergeant Mike Cox said, in a report read to the hearing by the coroner’s officer, that Ms Lord’s body was “not clothed” and had been 2.5 metres underwater.

No alcohol or “drugs of abuse” were detected in her blood and there was no evidence she had been assaulted, Mr Cox said.

Ms Lord’s husband, Clive Lord, said in a statement read out by the coroner: “Gaynor had recently watched a TV show about swimming in ice cold water.

“She’s never done it herself but I don’t know if in her confused state she may have been thinking about this.

“I don’t know this for sure – it’s just me thinking about why she would enter the water.”

“It’s not a park we’ve ever been to before.

“The only reason I can think she went there is so we couldn’t find her.”

He said he had last seen her before she left for work and they had spoken about planning a holiday to Japan the next year.

Mr Lord added there had been no “arguments” or “disagreements”.

The coroner said that Ms Lord’s mental health was “noted as stable” in January 2023, but added: “However there was some evidence in the more recent past that she was acting out of character.”

In the police report, Mr Cox said that analysis of Ms Lord’s phone showed that on the afternoon of her disappearance she sent a message saying “help” to a contact in her phone who had “died some time ago”.

In a further message, Ms Lord wrote that she was “going crazy” and “can feel the fear”.

The coroner said that in a “string of messages she said she didn’t know what she was doing”.

Medical details in a police report read to the hearing said that Ms Lord agreed to start HRT in March 2023.

The coroner said that Ms Lord had suffered a large epileptic seizure on December 4 2023, “a few days before her disappearance”, adding that this was “her first large seizure for some time”.

She said she could make “no finding in relation to her mental health”.

“Gaynor Lord had been married for many years, had children and led a stable life,” the coroner said.

“The evidence is she enjoyed her part-time work at Jarrolds (department store) for Bullard’s gin.”

Her medical cause of death was recorded as immersion and drowning.

Ms Lord, of King Street, Norwich, had a previous mental health episode in 2011, but the coroner said: “There’s no diagnosis of mental ill health.”

In 2011, Ms Lord had been taken to hospital after she had been in a pub “waiting for aliens to pick her up or take her away”, her husband said.

He said that at the time “doctors were considering sectioning her but they allowed her to come home”, adding “we think she screwed up her tablets and had a reaction”.

Mr Cox said that phone analysis indicated that between 4.10pm and 4.30pm on December 8 2023 Ms Lord was looking at pictures of her family and of her dog, which her husband said had died around a year earlier.

Police previously confirmed they had consulted officers from Lancashire Constabulary who worked on the search for Nicola Bulley.

Ms Bulley’s body was found in the River Wyre in Lancashire on February 19 last year.

The Lancashire force was criticised over its handling of that investigation and the disclosure of Ms Bulley’s personal information.

Addressing family members of Ms Lord who attended the inquest, including her two daughters, the coroner said: “I would like to offer you my sympathy at the loss of your mother, sister and daughter, and pass on my sympathy to your father please.”