A senior coroner has ruled that Gaynor Lord, whose disappearance sparked a major search, died by “misadventure” after she was found drowned in a city river. 

Mrs Lord, 55, was reported missing on December 8 last year after failing to return home from her job at Jarrolds department store in Norwich. 

She had been reported missing by her family and a collection of CCTV footage showed her leaving work as a retail assistant on a gin counter more than an hour earlier than expected. 

She was then captured on CCTV walking and running through the city on foot.  

A large search operation began on December 8 when her belongings, including clothing, rings and a mobile phone, were found scattered across Wensum Park.  

Specialist divers had been searching the river for three days before finding her body in the water   

Her body was recovered from the River Wensum by police divers a week later on December 15, about a quarter of a mile from the park near to St Martins Close.

An inquest into her death took place at Norfolk Coroner’s Court today (Tuesday, October 1) and was attended by family members including her two daughters, sister, and mother. 

The medical cause of death was given as "immersion and drowning". 

Jacqueline Lake, Norfolk’s senior coroner, concluded that her death was due to “misadventure”. 

Click here for a full report of the inquest.

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