Police reveal they 'may now know' why missing mum was behaving so strangely

15 December 2023 , 11:27

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Gaynor Lord was last seen last Friday afternoon as she left work early (Image: PA)

Police "may now know" why missing mum Gaynor Lord was behaving "out of character," an officer revealed today.

The investigation for Mrs Lord, 55, is now centred around River Wensum, which runs alongside Wensum Park in Norwich city centre, as police believe there was a "high probability" she had entered the water.

Mrs Lord's friend, Julie Butcher, received mysterious phone calls from the missing mum on the day she disappeared - Friday December 8. Mrs Lord had left work one hour early and CCTV cameras captured her hurrying through Norwich city centre. Norfolk Constabulary said her behaviour was "out of character".

Police search teams continue to hunt the River Wensum in Norwich (Getty Images)

Now the force believe they understand why Mrs Lord was behaving oddly. Chief Superintendent Dave Buckley said: "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. 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."

Norfolk Police released CCTV of what they believe is the final sighting of Mrs Lord before she disappeared. It shows her smiling as she leaves work at Jarrold department store in Norwich city centre and then captures the mum of three make her way on foot to the park, which is around one mile from the shop.

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But she also appears to enter and exit Norwich Cathedral in what police have called "a mystery 34 minutes". Officers want to know if anyone has further information around why Mrs Lord visited the cathedral. Nevertheless, they believe "everything we know is pointing to a high probability" that she entered the River Wensum. The woman's coat was discovered in the river, and other clothes and jewellery were found scattered around the park.

CCTV showed Mrs Lord walk along several streets from work to Wensum Park (PA)

Ms Butcher said she got two calls from her on Friday afternoon. At 2:15pm, the mum rang and asked where Ms Butcher was. She told the BBC: “I said 'I'm at home' and I explained I was sorting out the internet and my phone rang and it was one of my clients and I had to speak to them. I said I would call her back and she said 'yes'”.

She revealed that she called Gaynor back seven or eight minutes later but couldn’t get hold of the Jarrold department store worker. She called again to no avail, before sending a WhatsApp message saying that she was now free to chat.

Norfolk Police say they are keeping an open mind about the fate of Mrs Lord as the search continues one week after she vanished. Wensum Park remains closed so officers can conduct their search.

Bradley Jolly