Missing woman found dead in river

A HENLEY woman was found dead in the River Thames almost three weeks after she went missing.

Hannah Gibbs’ body was pulled from the water  near Marlow on Friday evening and formally identified on Tuesday.

Police told her family as soon as they made the discovery and specialist officers are now giving them support.

The Buckinghamshire coroner is expected to open an inquest next week.

Miss Gibbs, 37, left her home in Gainsborough Road, where she lived with her mother Gay Lawless and 20-year-old son Joshua Durrant, at 7.15pm on October 13.

She was apparently going for a walk and was last seen on CCTV in Station Road about half an hour later.

Miss Gibbs, who had worked as a teacher in Hurst and more recently as bar manager at the Wee Waif in Charvil, was just two days from starting a new job.

The day after she vanished her shoulder bag and mobile phone were found on the pontoon at the River & Rowing Museum on Mill Meadows and her coat turned up downstream at Hambleden Lock. Specialist police divers and volunteers searched on and off the water almost daily when conditions allowed.

Miss Gibbs’ disappearance remains unexplained as her family say she was in a positive mood when she left the house. She was described as a popular figure who enjoyed meeting friends and socialising at the Angel as well as the Little Angel in White Hill.

More than 200 people paid tribute to her on Facebook and Twitter, including old schoolfriends and people who had known her through her work as a Slimming World consultant.

Miss Gibbs’ daughter Jessica Durrant, 17, posted on Twitter: “Sadly today our worst fears were confirmed... thank you everyone for your support and kind words. Rest in paradise, Mumma.”

The family also thanked everyone involved in the search.