A mother of three whose body was recovered from a river in Norwich last year had recently watched a TV show about cold-water swimming, an inquest heard.
Gaynor Lord, who was found dead in the River Wensum was on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for the menopause and medication for epilepsy, the coroner said on Tuesday.
The 55-year-old retail worker disappeared after leaving work early in Norwich city centre at 2.45pm on Dec 8, prompting a one-week search by police.
Jacqueline Lake, Norfolk’s senior coroner, told the 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 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 Dec 8. Specialist divers discovered her body nearby on Dec 15.
Det Sgt Mike Cox said, in a report read to the hearing, that the body was “not clothed” and had been 2.5m (8 feet) underwater.
No alcohol or “drugs of abuse” were detected in her blood and there was no evidence she had been assaulted, Mr Cox said.
Clive Lord, Ms Lord’s husband, 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.”
He continued: “There’s no reason for her to be at Wensum Park. 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”.
Acting out of character
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 added that in a “string of messages she said she didn’t know what she was doing”.
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 Dec 4 2023, “a few days before her disappearance”, adding that this was “her first large seizure for some time”.
Ms Lord had a previous mental health episode in 2011, but the coroner said: “There’s no diagnosis of mental ill health.”
“Gaynor Lord had been married for many years, had children and led a stable life,” the coroner said.
Phone analysis indicated that between 4.10pm and 4.30pm on Dec 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.
Her medical cause of death was recorded as immersion and drowning.
Nicola Bulley death
Police previously confirmed they had consulted officers from Lancashire Constabulary who worked on the search for Nicola Bulley, whose body was found in the River Wyre in Lancashire on Feb 19 last year.
The Lancashire force was criticised for 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.”
