Gaynor Lord: New footage of missing Norwich woman released
New footage of missing mother-of-three Gaynor Lord, who was last seen on Friday, has been released.
The 55-year-old disappeared after leaving work early in Norwich city centre – with police describing her actions as “out of character”.
The new 33-second clip shows Mrs Lord walking up St Augustines Street at 4.01pm. It was the last time she was captured on CCTV, police said.
She is seen wearing glasses and a long coat as she walks along the road – which is busy with passing traffic.
Follow latest: Police give update on mother
Police release timeline of last known movements
The street is close to Wensum Park, where Mrs Lord was last seen by a passer-by, and where some of her possessions, including her mobile phone and glasses, were later found.
Other CCTV footage released earlier in the week shows her leaving her job at Jarrolds department store at 2.45pm – an hour and 15 minutes earlier than scheduled – and walking towards Norwich Cathedral.
Gaynor Lord’s last known movements
Yoga pose sighting
Mrs Lord was later seen leaving the cathedral’s grounds just after 3.20pm, before making her way through the city centre to St Augustines Street.
Police were alerted that Mrs Lord, who is married, had gone missing on Friday after her possessions were found in Wensum Park just after 8pm. Her ID was also found in her handbag at the scene.
The white shirt and yellow top she was wearing, along with two rings, a mobile phone and glasses, were also found scattered nearby.
Her olive-coloured coat was discovered in the River Wensum, which runs alongside the park.
An eyewitness told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that she saw a woman believed to be Mrs Lord in the park.
She described seeing the woman remove her coat and put it on the ground, before “sort of performing a yoga pose”. The witness added that something “seemed a bit off” because it was “starting to get dark”.
CCTV image of Gaynor Lord leaving work on Friday 8 December
‘We can’t explain some of her behaviour’
Officers believe Mrs Lord entered the water and specialist underwater teams are involved in the search.
In a press conference at the scene on Thursday afternoon, Chief Superintendent Dave Buckley said officers had not been able to establish her state of mind on the day she went missing.
He said that “everything we know is pointing to a high probability that Gaynor went into the water”, but added: “Nobody’s seen her go into the river.”
Detectives are keeping an “open mind” about what happened, but Ch Supt Buckley described some of Mrs Lord’s actions on Friday as “out of character”.
He added: “We can’t explain some of her behaviour that day.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Previously released CCTV footage of Mrs Lord
The senior officer said detectives were speaking to the mother-of-three’s friends and family and “anybody who can help us that we know she’s had contact with”.
He added: “We have got hold of her mobile device, we will work our way through that systematically… and see if we can find out more accurately why we’ve ended up where we have.
“It would be really premature I think if I offered too much suggestion as to what I think has happened.”
However, the senior officer said detectives did have an idea why Mrs Lord left work early, but did not provide any details.
He told reporters: “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”.
Read more from Sky News:
British boy missing since 2017 found in France
Interest rate held at 5.25% for third time
Premier League to have first female referee
The River Wensum
Police keen to learn lessons from Bulley case
Police are keen to hear from anyone who saw Mrs Lord between 2.50pm and 3.23pm – because it was “not clear where she goes inside the cathedral grounds during this time”.
Some 30 people have already come forward with information in relation to the disappearance.
Ch Supt Buckley also confirmed that his officers were in direct contact with Lancashire Police – who led the search for Nicola Bulley at the start of the year.
“In terms of Lancashire, we’ve reached out to them and to investigators that worked on that case,” he said.
Gaynor Lord. Pic: Norfolk Constabulary
In further cross-service collaboration, he said a specialist team from Lincolnshire was also assisting in the search.
No marks were found on the grass by the river to indicate that someone had gone in the water, Norfolk Police confirmed.
The force said specialist divers were working in an “extraordinarily challenging environment” and warned it could take “a couple of days” or longer to complete the search of the stretch of river.
Ch Supt Buckley said: “We have been speaking to the dive team on site and visibility in the River Wensum is between zero and one foot underwater with temperatures as low as 4C.
“As soon as you reach one foot in front of you, visibility goes and then there’s obviously leaves, branches, debris, and the flow of the river to contend with, which is the biggest problem because there’s been so much rainfall.”
Sonar equipment is also being used in the search, he added.
A total of 60 officers are involved in the operation to find her.
The only survivor of the Air India plane crash says he thought he was “going to die”.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, managed to walk away from the wreckage. He was “disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body… but he seems to be out of danger”, according to a doctor who examined him.
There had been 242 people on board flight AI171 when it came down. Among the passengers and crew on the Gatwick-bound aircraft were 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed into a doctors’ hostel in a residential area on Thursday, moments after taking off from Ahmedabad airport, in western India.
India plane crash: Follow live updates
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Indian PM meets lone survivor of plane crash
Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior police officer in Ahmedabad, said Mr Ramesh was sat in seat 11A, located next to an emergency exit, and “managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door”.
Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Ramesh said he “still can’t believe” he survived.
He said he thought he “was also going to die” but he then “opened [his] eyes”.
“I pulled out the belt from under my seat and tried to escape. Then I managed to do it,” he told DD India.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Moment of fatal plane crash in India
Mr Ramesh said “within the first mile” after take-off “it felt like the plane was stuck” and “like something had happened”.
“Then a light came on, like a green and white light came on inside the plane,” he added.
“The pilot was trying to give it a bit of a push to push it forward, but it was struggling. But it went straight into a building.”
He said the side where he landed was not the hostel side and as soon as the plane door broke, he “could see that it was open for [him] and [he had] a chance to get out”.
He said that his brother, Ajay, was seated in a different row on the plane. “He was travelling with me and I can’t find him anymore. Please help me find him,” he told the Hindustan Times.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What could have caused the India plane crash?
‘Bodies all around me’
Mr Ramesh continued: “It all happened so quickly. When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me.
“Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
From his hospital bed, Mr Ramesh also met India’s prime minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking in Leicester, Mr Ramesh’s brother Nayan told Sky’s Shamaan Freeman-Powell that their father was on the phone to Mr Ramesh while the plane was still on the runway.
“My dad called him,” the 27-year-old said. “And Vishwash said ‘oh we’re going to take off soon’.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Plane crash survivor’s brother speaks to Sky News
Two minutes later, their father received a video call from Mr Ramesh to say the plane had crashed and he had survived.
“He video-called my dad as he crashed and said ‘Oh the plane’s crashed. I don’t know where my brother is. I don’t see any other passengers. I don’t know how I’m alive – how I exited the plane’,” Nayan said.
Air India has confirmed 229 passengers and 12 crew members died, but authorities have not confirmed how many people on the ground were killed or injured.
Read more:
Everything we know about the crash
Plane wreckage rips apart medical hostel
Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa and their four-year-old daughter Sara. Pic: PA
Who were the victims?
Among the British citizens killed in the crash were Akeel Nanabawa, his wife Hannaa, and their four-year-old daughter Sara.
Gloucester Muslim Community said in a statement on Facebook that “no words can truly ease the pain of such a profound loss”.
Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek. Pic: Instagram
Also on the flight were married couple Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek from west London, who had posted a video from the airport on their Instagram feed shortly before boarding.
Gatwick Airport said in a statement that a reception centre was being set up where information and support will be provided for relatives of those on board.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Tata Sons, Air India’s owner, said it would give around £86,000 to the families of each person who died, cover the medical costs of those injured and support the rebuild of the medical hostel.
British nationals who require consular assistance are advised to call 020 7008 5000, while Air India has set up hotlines to provide information on +91 806 2779 200 for foreign nationals or 1800 5691 444 if calling from India.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has called for “restraint” and “diplomacy” after Israel launched a barrage of airstrikes on Iran early on Friday.
He called reports of Israel’s so-called Operation Rising Lion “concerning”, but stopped short of condemning it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had targeted the “heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme”, which he feared would eventually be aimed at Israel.
Iran promised “severe punishment” for the attacks, which killed several top commanders and nuclear scientists, and launched 100 drones towards Israel in an initial response.
Follow latest: Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear sites
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Analysis: ‘This is the big one’
In a statement on Friday, Mr Starmer urged “all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently”.
He added: “Escalation serves no one in the region. Stability in the Middle East must be the priority and we are engaging partners to de-escalate.
“Now is the time for restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy.”
The UK does not appear to have been warned in advance of Israel’s plan to attack Iran.
David Lammy, the foreign secretary, had been due to travel to Washington on Friday to meet his American counterpart.
The trip was cancelled once it became known that Israel had launched its operation.
A Whitehall source said the late cancellation of Mr Lammy’s travel plans indicated the UK had not been alerted in advance to the timing of the attack.
However, the UK had been aware of the increasing likelihood of an Israeli mission to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, given the rhetoric from the Israeli government in recent weeks.
Mr Lammy called it a “dangerous moment” and said “stability in the Middle East is vital for global security”.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, British industry minister Sarah Jones also said the UK had not been involved in the Israeli military operation.
It is understood British warplanes are not currently involved in helping to defend Israel’s skies from any Iranian counterattacks.
This could change as the situation develops.
Additional forces could well be sent to a key Royal Air Force base in Cyprus, where Typhoon jets are stationed.
The deployment of reinforcements to RAF Akrotiri has happened in the past during times of crisis in the Middle East.
The US also said it had not been involved in Israel’s attack on Iran, and warned against any retaliation targeting American interests or personnel.
US President Donald Trump had previously urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack Iran while Washington negotiates a nuclear deal with the country.
In his first public comment about the attacks, he again urged Iran to reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear programme, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel’s attacks “will only get worse”.
Without saying whether he was privy to specific Israeli plans, the US president said “there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end”.
Read more from Sky News:
Charges over Ballymena riots
MPs to vote again on assisted dying – will it pass?
Everything we know about the Air India plane crash
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
But China, Saudi Arabia and Russia condemned Israel’s strikes, while Japan called the use of military force “deeply regrettable”.
Russia’s foreign ministry called the attack “unprovoked” and “categorically unacceptable” and said it was in breach of the United Nations charter.
Spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry Lin Jian said: “China opposes the violation of Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, opposes the intensification of contradictions, the expansion of conflicts, and the sudden
rise in temperature of the regional situation.”
Takeshi Iwaya, Japan’s foreign minister, said: “Amid ongoing diplomatic efforts, including talks between the United States and Iran, to achieve a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue, the use of military force is deeply regrettable.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut