Gaynor Lord disappearance: Fresh CCTV shows missing woman walking towards Norwich park

• The new footage shows Ms Lord wandering towards the park where police are searching

Missing Gaynor Lord is shown wandering towards the park where she is thought to have gone missing, in new footage released by police searching for her.

The 55-year-old appears in more relaxed mood than previous footage, as she walks up St Augustine's Street in Norwich towards Wensum Park, where police believe she entered the water.

As the search for the mother-of-three entered its seventh day, police continued to appeal for witnesses but said they had begun to piece together why she may have left work early.

Officers said “everything we know is pointing to a high probability” that she went into the River Wensum, saying “nobody knows why she’s done what she’s done.”

Chief Superintendent Dave Buckley said: “There’s nothing we’ve been able to establish that really gives us a clear position on her state of mind that I would feel any degree of confidence of saying what we think it is at the moment.”

He said: “We continue to talk to friends, family, anybody who can help us that we know she’s had contact with.

“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.”

On Wednesday Norfolk Police released CCTV footage showing Ms Lord's last known movements after she walked out of Jarrolds department store, where her shift was due to finish at 4pm.

The CCTV shows Ms Lord in Norwich from 2.45pm on Friday, and making her way through the city.

Ms Lord appears in a hurry and breaks into a run at times, as she crosses roads and heads towards the city's cathedral.

In response to appeals for information about her movements, the force has received 30 calls from members of the public offering information, which officers are working through.

Ch Supt Buckley told reporters on Thursday that officers were beginning to understand why Ms Lord left her shift ahead of schedule.

“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,” he said.

“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.

“I don’t think any of the conversations we’ve had are completely informing us as to why her state of mind ended up being what it was.”

• In previously released footage, Gaynor Lord is seen running through the city centre

He also explained the challenges of the working conditions as police divers search the River Wensum flowing through the park.

Ch Supt Buckley said visibility was less than one foot, 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," he said.

“They’re swimming against the flow of the river, which is very difficult, and searching with next to zero visibility, and in a systematic manner.

"It’s very time consuming because it’s a large area to search and we must make sure we covered every feasible inch of water.”

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service has been assisting the search and on Wednesday expanded the water search capabilities by calling on colleagues from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service to assist with a specialist under water drone.

The underwater search involves a combination of technology, diving, and drones.

Three types of sonar - a technique that uses sound to detect objects - have been used from a boat in the River Wensum.

Once an object is identified as requiring further investigation, a dive team will be deployed and those areas prioritised.

Ch Supt Buckley said the images being beamed back to the boat were often unclear and difficult to recognise depending on the angle.

He added the irregular and largely "natural nature" of the terrain with uneven banks, trees, and various depths and obstructions made the work "painstaking and difficult".

What happened to Gaynor Lord?

Ms Lord, a married mother-of-three, left work at Jarrolds department store in Norwich city centre at 2.45pm on Friday, 8 December.

CCTV images show her walking rapidly towards the city's cathedral, then on towards Wensum Park north of Norwich.

At 8.10pm that evening, a member of the public reported finding belongings in the park, which police trace to Ms Lord through ID found in her handbag.

After visiting her home, they establish that she did not return from work that evening and that the park was not on her normal route home.

Her clothes, mobile phone, glasses and jewellery are found in the park, and police later reveal that her coat was found in the water - leading police to announce that the most likely scenario is that she "entered the water".

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