Gaynor Lord's daughter shares message of 'sorrow' in heartbreaking update

20 December 2023 , 09:39

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CCTV showed Gaynor Lord at work in Jarrolds department store before she vanished (Image: PA)

Gaynor Lord's devastated daughter shared a poignant message of 'despair and suffering' following the news that her mother's body has been found.

The mum-of-three went missing earlier this month after leaving her workplace in Norwich city centre, before the hunt came to an end when she was later found in the River Wensum with formal identification now complete. Her coat was also discovered in the water, where police eventually pulled her body from on Friday.

Her family are coming to terms with the news and her daughter Charlotte has shared a heartfelt Instagram video from fitness influencer Aidan Loughnane. He said in the message that the suggestion that "everything will be OK" is not true - but that "there is hope" because "you can be OK".

Specialist divers retrieved her body from the River Wensum on Friday (PA)

"You can be OK means to accept uncertainty," he said in the shared post. "To accept we must all go through the depths of despair and suffering that we all must experience, the greatest loss imaginable to us. Regardless, showing strength and accepting that it is a necessary evil.

"It is a necessary way of life teaching us the most important and valuable lessons." He went on to say: "To feel joy we must feel sorrow, to be hopeful we must feel despair, and to laugh we must cry."

Gaynor Lord hunt sees rescue team scour river in search for missing woman

After locating her body, Chief superintendent Dave Buckley said: “We remain open-minded to the circumstances of Gaynor’s disappearance, and we’ll continue to pursue all lines of inquiry to ascertain why she went missing. I’m keen to say this remains a missing person inquiry at this stage.

“I am also satisfied at the moment, based on the evidence that we have, that Gaynor did not meet anyone on the way to the park, and we now have a better understanding of her movements through the city centre. I would reiterate at this stage that there is no evidence of third party involvement. Nothing in our inquiries have changed this position.”

The mum had left her work in a local department store early on the day she vanished. Her employers Jarrolds has issued a touching tribute to Gaynor Lord following the formal identification. In a statement, the firm said: "Our thoughts are with the family of Gaynor Lord at this extremely difficult time. As someone who worked within the store, she will be missed by all and we would like to pass on our collective condolences."

Police had been interested in finding out exactly what took place in the 34 minutes from when Ms Lord was seen entering and leaving Norwich Cathedral. They released a clip of CCTV showing the mum leaving work and seemingly in a hurry as she crossed the road, in some of her last known movements.

Sam Elliott-Gibbs