‘I wish I hadn’t answered that call’: Gaynor Lord’s friend tells of her regret after she hung up on missing mother-of-three on day she disappeared so she could take a work call – as police divers recover body from river

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Mother-of-three Gaynor Lord’s friend has told of her regret after having to hang up on her the day she disappeared to take a work call, as police today recovered a body from the River Wensum. 

The search for Mrs Lord, 55, who was last seen walking out of her workplace at Jarrolds department store over an hour before her shift was due to end and hurrying through the streets of Norwich on December 8, had today entered its second week.

Specialist police divers were seen searching an area of the River Wensum on Friday morning before finding a body, which they then pulled out of the water in a black bag. 

Friend Julie Butcher had shared ‘gins and hugs’ with the mother-of-three just days before and the pair agreed to play tennis together after Christmas.

Ms Butcher told Sky News: ‘I wish I hadn’t have answered that call. [I] Really wish I hadn’t have answered that call. And then she may have talked to me a bit more or I might have found out the reason why she was calling me.’

The mother-of-three (pictured) walked out of her workplace over an hour before her shift was due to end and hurried through the streets of Norwich

Police divers today found a body in the river, marking the location with an orange buoy before retrieving it from the water

This timeline shows what we know so far about how Gaynor Lord’s disappearance unfolded

She said her friend asked her: ‘Where are you, where are you?’, on the call before Ms Butcher promised to call her back – but when she did so five minutes later there was no answer. 

Then, she got another call but thinks it was a pocket dial.

Ms Butcher told GMB: ‘It was 4.15pm and she rang me again. It sounded like a pocket call. It just sounded like she was walking. So I thought, “oh she obviously hasn’t meant to call me”. I just wish I’d have kept her on the phone and not taken that phone call because you never know, she might have said something.’

Speaking about the last time she saw Mrs Lord, she said: ‘She was happy on Tuesday and we had a few gins with her and the last time I saw her she gave me a hug.’ 

She said she was ‘upbeat’ and talking about Christmas just days before she disappeared.

‘We were talking. She was a bit busy but we were talking about Christmas and she seemed fine, no different to the usual Gaynor. She was quite upbeat and happy,’ Ms Butcher told the BBC.

Ms Butcher said: ‘I keep going over the conversation. If I hadn’t answered that call [from her client] would she have talked to me?  I feel terrible. I feel so sorry for the family… It’s not like Gaynor to do this.’ 

Speaking to GMB, she said of Mr Lord: ‘He sounded like he hadn’t slept. He sounded dreadful, as you would if your wife hadn’t come home.’

Norfolk Police confirmed a body had been retrieved and that while it has not been formally identified, Gaynor’s family have been informed. They continue to be supported by specially trained officers.

Friend Julie Butcher told Sky Mrs Gaynor had seemed ‘happy and upbeat’ the last time she saw her

A tent was set up in Wensum Park after Mrs Lord’s belongings were found nearby

A police dive team assisting the search for the mother-of-three today carried out checks at a specific part of the River Wensum in Norwich

Police were seen preparing to dive a new site in the river on Friday morning

The entrance to Norwich Cathedral, where Gaynor Lord was seen walking, as police continue the search for the mother of three who was last seen on Friday afternoon last week

Police released new CCTV footage yesterday showing the last time Mrs Lord was caught on camera, about ten minutes before her second call to Ms Butcher

The team could be seen scouring the river, which was marked with an orange buoy

Police yesterday revealed that they have ‘some indications’ as to why Mrs Lord left work early on the day she vanished, but also admitted they have not been able to establish her state of mind when she went missing with ‘any degree of confidence’.

Possessions including her rings, mobile phone and clothing were found in a park in the city hours later, while her coat was in the nearby river.

READ MORE: Body is found in hunt for Gaynor Lord: Police say divers have recovered body from river – a week after the married mother-of-three was last seen on CCTV running through Norwich city centre 

A police dive team assisting the search for the mother-of-three today carried out checks at a specific part of the River Wensum in Norwich, placing an orange buoy on the spot.

An Environment Agency search boat was stationed next to the buoy on Friday morning as a dive team truck arrived at the area just after 11am.

Two members of the dive team could be seen surveying the area, appearing to check if the water was safe to enter.

The discovery was made shortly before noon, only about 100m downstream from Wensum Park, where Mrs Lord was last seen alive.

Members of Norfolk Police underwater search team in the deep water signalled to colleagues on the bank that something had been found.

A large white tent was set up by the riverbank for privacy and a black body bag was slipped into the water.

Shortly afterwards, the divers pulled the laden body bag from the water, hidden from view by the tent.

The divers removed the object from the water next to the orange buoy which had been positioned in the river on Friday.

Speaking near the spot in Wensum Park where Mrs Lord is believed to have gone into the water, Chief Superintendent Dave Buckley of Norfolk Police said it will take ‘a couple of days’ or longer to complete the search of the stretch of river, which has included using sonar equipment.

‘It’s very, very challenging – the river is very, very full of water with all the rain, full of lots of debris,’ he said. The divers can see about one foot in front of them, so it’s an extraordinarily challenging environment for them to work in.’

Mr Buckley added that the force is keeping an open mind about what happened to to Mrs Lord but that ‘everything we know is pointing to a high probability that Gaynor went into the water’.

‘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.’ 

Mrs Lord’s colleagues have insisted her behaviour was normal prior to her disappearance. A co-worker at the store’s Bullards Gin concession said she seemed her ‘normal, happy self’ days before.

Police searching for missing mother Gaynor Lord scour Wensum Park in Norwich on Thursday

Members of the dive team searching the River Wensum at Wensum Park in Norwich on Thursday

Gaynor Lord was last seen on Friday afternoon as she left work early from Norwich city centre

Police teams continue to hunt for clues in the disappearance of Gaynor Lord in Norwich on Thursday

A floor manager in the city centre store added: ‘There was nothing to suggest at all that something like this would happen… She didn’t show any signs of distress or concern.’

Timeline of Gaynor Lord’s movements before going missing 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023

 2.44pm – Gaynor is working at the Bullards Gin counter in the basement at Jarrold department store – her clothing is clearly visible

2.45-2.46pm – She leaves the store via loading bay on Bedford Street

2.47pm – Walks onto London Street past Cosy Club

2.48pm – Gaynor makes her way onto Queens Street and walks toward the Cathedral

3.22pm – Gaynor is seen on The Close at the cathedral entrance – shortly before exiting through the archway she puts her coat on

3.23pm – She is seen to walk away from the cathedral on Queens Street – here you can see a clear image of the coat she was wearing

3.49pm – This is the last sighting of Gaynor on CCTV near the Playhouse on St George’s Street

3.53pm – Walks along St Crispins Road towards Pitt Street

4.01pm – Gaynor walks up St Augustines Street – her final movements captured in CCTV before going missing 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023 

12pm – Police divers pull a body from the river 

But a friend of hers, who was a salesman at a nearby store, revealed yesterday that Mrs Lord had told him she was ‘feeling a bit funny’ shortly before her disappearance.

‘It was very nonchalant. She said she was feeling a bit funny, a bit off,’ the man told the Daily Telegraph. 

He added: ‘We had a brief conversation about anxiety. She didn’t say she did or didn’t suffer with it… She had no mental health problems that I was aware of.’

Police released new CCTV footage yesterday showing the last time Mrs Lord was caught on camera, about ten minutes before her second call to Ms Butcher.

Taken just over an hour after she left the department store where she works and several hours before her belongings were found, she could be seen walking calmly along St Augustines Street in the city centre. 

She was later spotted by a woman, who said Mrs Lord appeared ‘quite calm’ as she performed a yoga pose with her coat on the ground beside her.

Norfolk Police, who have received around 30 calls from members of the public in response to appeals for information, don’t believe anyone else was involved in her disappearance but have not ruled it out.

Chief Superintendent Buckley added: ‘We’re really concerned about her safety. We are pursuing the inquiry that she’s missing and alive.’

The force has been liaising with Lancashire Police, which handled the investigation into Nicola Bulley, who went missing in similar circumstances earlier this year. 

Her body was found in the River Wyre and an inquest concluded she fell in and died of accidental drowning.

Mrs Lord’s husband Clive, 63, has not commented on the case.

Police search the New Mills Yard area of the River Wensum in Norwich this morning

Detectives are using sonar equipment at the River Wensum in Norwich

The New Mills Yard area of the River Wensum is the search focus for police

Police continue to scour the River Wensum by Wensum Park in Norwich, pictured yesterday

Police teams continue to hunt for clues in the disappearance of Gaynor Lord in Norwich on Thursday

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