Gaynor Lord: Questions remain after inquest held into death of Lancashire mum whose disappearance captured the nation

The mother-of-three who was originally from Lancashire and whose brother lives in Blackpool, went missing after leaving work early in Norwich city centre at 2.45pm on December 8, 2023. She was captured rushing to the cathedral grounds on CCTV, and tried to call her friend that afternoon.

A week later, Mrs Lord’s body was recovered from the River Wensum after a week-long police search, and an inquest was opened to establish the facts surrounding her death. Yesterday, the inquest has been held, but many questions still remain as to why she entered the water, and her state of mind.

Medication and cold water swimming

The inquest, held in Norwich on Tuesday, heard how Mrs Lord was on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for the menopause, had recently had a big epileptic seizure which she was on medication for days before her disappearance, and had recently watched a TV show about cold water swimming.

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Phone analysis indicated that between 4.10pm and 4.30pm on the day she went missing, Mrs Lord was looking at pictures of her family and of her dog, which her husband said had died around a year earlier.

Norfolk’s senior coroner Jacqueline Lake said: “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, said the medical cause of death was immersion and drowning, and recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure, saying she was satisfied Ms Lord “intended to enter the water but I do find she didn’t intend to die by her actions”.

Clothing, jewellery and phone

Mrs 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. Specialist divers discovered a body in the river, near to where Ms Lord’s belongings were found, on December 15.

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.”

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

Medical history

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.”

Mental health

Mrs 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”.

Nicola Bulley connections

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.

Addressing family members of Mrs 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.”