Gaynor Lord: Police close Wensum Park in Norwich after missing woman's belongings found

Police have cordoned off a park in their bid to find a 55-year-old woman who has been missing since Friday (December 8). Gaynor Lord was last seen on London Street, in Norwich city centre at 2.35pm, heading towards Norwich Cathedral.

Her belongings, including clothing and jewellery, were found in Wensum Park on the same day she went missing. Norwich Police said the park will remain closed for the rest of the day as the search operation continues into her disappearance.

Over the weekend, specialist search teams including a police drone carried out extensive searches of Wensum Park and while Gaynor wasn’t found, further belongings, including another item of jewellery were discovered.

Water based searches have also been carried out with assistance from the constabulary’s Marine Unit, Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, and the Coastguard. Sonar equipment was used during these searches, however nothing was found.

Norwich Policing Commander Superintendent Wes Hornigold said: “We’re doing everything we can to find Gaynor and based on what we’ve found in the park, this remains our focus for the searches. Clearly, given the nearby waterways, we do have to be open to the possibility that Gaynor has entered the water and we’ve carried out extensive searches on the river this weekend.

“Naturally, our focus will now start to move to underwater searches and we’re seeking help from specialist teams to help with this complex task. Our priority is to find Gaynor and the park will remain closed while these searches continue. We’d ask the local community to bear with us while this takes place. This is clearly a distressing time for her family and we continue to keep them updated of ongoing work in this case.”

Gaynor is described as white, 5ft 6 tall, and was wearing a white shirt and yellow tank top with a large olive-coloured coat over the top and a scarf. She has blonde shoulder length hair in a bob. Anyone with information or who knows of her whereabouts should contact Norfolk Police on 101 quoting incident number 427 of 8 December 2023.