Gillian Merrick missing since New years day

LaMisty wrote:

eddie wrote:

Coconut wrote:

eddie wrote:I saw the husband and son of Gill Merrick yesterday (?) on GMTV and he had really good composure untill he spoke of the fact that Gill is a devoted mother who wouldn't just walk off and leave her kids.

It really is a mystery and I am wondering what leads the police are chasing up in this case?

Link here to interview

http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=32999

That guy looked really violent to me but I could be wrong.

You know what Coconut, I wasn't too sure about the tears at the end and his son just looked at him.
I just thought i was being paranoid...but you may be right.

I cant seem to take his word for it either. To me he looks like he's hiding something.

Did you think he looked like he was acting when he sort of broke down in the interview LaMisty?

eddie wrote:

Antoinette wrote:sorry :away:

Don't be sorry Antoinette, I started the other one...Great minds think alike and all that.

(Pssst, I think we are the cleverest here anyway , between me and you....)

DEFINITELY EDDIE.

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Update-Man-held-over-Gillian.4929439.jp


29 Jan:
Man held over Gillian Merrick disappearance is released.

16 Jan:
Family's new 'come home' plea to Gillian

13 Jan:
Video: Police began a painstaking search of the Merrick family home in Sutton Road, Oundle, a move to find new clues to her whereabouts.

12 Jan:
Video: Gillian's husband Nick is joined by family members at an emotional press conference staged to launch a fresh appeal for information about Gillian's whereabouts.

10 Jan:
Woman seen on road - but was she Gillian?

8 Jan:
Searches of rivers, lakes and countryside near Oundle continued for missing Gillian Merrick.

Video: Police setup a special roadside initiative on the A605 to quiz motorists.

5 Jan:
About 50 volunteers, including many from Black and Veatch in Peterborough, where Gillian works, join police in searches.

4 Jan:
Up to 40 people from the Oundle area join the police search along with specially-trained search dogs.

3 Jan:
The police search team looks for Mrs Merrick.

2 January 2009:
A report comes in of a woman seen walking along the A605 towards Thrapston about a quarter of a mile from the Oundle roundabout in the early hours of Friday. There is no confirmation the woman was Gillian.

Can't find any new news on this story, only this:

POLICE officers searching for missing mum Gillian Merrick are appealing for a possible eyewitness to come forward.

Mother-of-two Gillian, 45, of South Road, Oundle, went missing from her home on New Year’s Day this year.

We have information to suggest that a man was spotted on the A605 at about 2.30am on Friday 2 January. He was spotted in the middle of the Oundle/Ashton roundabout. Police would like this man to come forward so that they can find out what, if anything, he saw and assess whether he can assist the police with their inquiries.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Cox said: “I would like to appeal to this man to contact us a soon as he possibly can.

“He can contact me in confidence or he can get in touch through Crimestoppers.

“We need to establish what, if anything, he saw that morning and assess whether that could help us to locate Gillian.

“Meantime we will continue to work hard to make sure we conduct this missing person’s inquiry in a manner that is both complete and thorough.”

A 49-year-old man remains on police bail in connection with this inquiry.

Officers have been conducting ground searches in and around the Oundle area and Spartan Rescue have been searching waterways in the area.

Gillian Merrick is 5ft 6ins tall with straight brown collar length hair. She is thought to have been wearing a beige jacket, red scarf and red gloves. She

Anyone with information is asked to contact Northamptonshire Police on 08453 700700.


Taken from the Northamptonshire police online website

Posing happily with her family, this is the poignant last photo of missing mum Gillian Merrick.

Taken with the camera’s self-timer, it shows her on a New Year’s Day outing with husband Nick and children Tom and Charlotte.

By next morning Gillian, 45, had vanished without trace.

http://m.mirror.co.uk/ms/p/tmg/mirror/view.m?id=341317&tid=215188&channel=News&section=Top+Stories&cat=News

The husband was arrested and questioned but let go....

8:27am UK, Saturday March 14, 2009
Police believe they have found the body of a mother who went missing from her home more than two months ago.

Gillian Merrick, 45, has not been seen since she vanished from her home in Oundle, Northamptonshire, on New Year's Day.

A specialist underwater search team was deployed, as fears grew for her wellbeing.

But officers have now discovered a woman's body in the River Nene at Tansor, eight miles north of her home town.

A post-mortem is due to take place on Saturday but Northamptonshire Police said it could be some time before the body is formally identified as the mother-of-two.

A force spokeswoman said: "Whilst the body has only recently been recovered, and identification procedures have not even begun, investigators believe there is a strong possibility that this could be the body of Gillian Merrick."

The spokeswoman said Mrs Merrick's family had been informed of the discovery.

Following her disappearance, Mrs Merrick's husband Nick spoke about how much he and their teenage children, Tom and Charlotte, missed her.

In one message, the 49-year-old said: "She is the glue that holds us together and brings light to the day."

He had told Sky News: "There might be just somebody who hasn't heard or a barn or a shed or something that has not been looked in.

"She could just be tucked up in a corner there, freezing cold, just waiting for some help … and, if anyone can help do that, it would be joyful."

A 49-year-old man was arrested after Mrs Merrick's disappearance before being released without charge.

The time that police need to confirm if the body is or not her mother, must be a nightmare for them!


I hope they get the information soon!

pm wrote:The time that police need to confirm if the body is or not her mother, must be a nightmare for them!


I hope they get the information soon!

I could be wrong but this sounds like the father knows about this. I'd hate to be those kids if he is implicated.

StGerald wrote:

pm wrote:The time that police need to confirm if the body is or not her mother, must be a nightmare for them!


I hope they get the information soon!

I could be wrong but this sounds like the father knows about this. I'd hate to be those kids if he is implicated.

I know it's a horrid thing to think but I can't see who else it could be. She didn't disappear from a motorway or a crowded theme park or something - so it is highly unlikely she was abducted.

Let's hope the Post Mortem sheds some light on what happened to her....

Published Date: 17 December 2009


A mum-of-two who was found dead in the River Nene more than two months after she went missing died accidentally, an inquest has heard.

The inquest at Kettering Magistrates Court this morning heard how 45-year-old Gillian Merrick of Sutton Road, Oundle, who vanished from her home on January 2, was walking several miles a day to try and help overcome a back problem.

She was worried she hadn't done enough walking the day before she went missing so went for a walk in the night towards Ashton, a route the inquest heard was "treacherous" but was often walked on by the family.

Her disappearance sparked a nationwide appeal and her body was finally found at Bluebell Lakes on March 13.

The inquest heard Mrs Merrick had undergone back surgery for a slipped disc in November last year.

Since the operation, the 45-year-old had been keen to return to fitness, and had started walking regularly as well as completing physiotherapy.

She had insisted on walks, even when on a cruise to Amsterdam - walking on laps round the deck every day, no matter the weather - the inquest heard.

Her husband Nick Merrick, 50, told the court on New Year's Day they had spent the day together with their two teenage children Tom and Charlotte.

He said Mrs Merrick had not managed to complete her usual two walks - a distance of over five miles.

He said she was frustrated she had not done the distance she felt necessary to help her recovery, and that evening had tried to do extra physiotherapy to make up for it.

He said: "She was concerned about her lack of walking that day because she did see it as a direct link to her recovery.

"She was very aware that she had not done the walking she wanted to do and would usually do so she compensated for that by doing more physio exercises in the evening.

"Her rationale was that if she didn't do the walks she would set herself back weeks. It was an irrational obsession really."

The inquest heard the couple occasionally slept in different beds, to allow both to have a better night sleep, and that night Mr Merrick went to bed in a guest bed downstairs.

He woke his wife in the night as he collected a phone charger from their bedroom and they told each other they loved each other, he said.

Mr Merrick went back to bed and at some point heard a noise. He did not know what it was, but later thought it might have been the front door, he said today.

The next day he realised his wife had gone, and after searching in the local area for her, called the police.

Mrs Merrick's body was finally found on March 13 at Bluebell Lakes by Environment Agency workers who were removing a tree from a weir.

The inquest heard she was found wearing a coat zipped up over her face, as well as a scarf and gloves.

Home Office pathologist Guy Rutty said there were no external or internal marks to suggest a cause of death.

He said there was a level of alcohol in her body but that was likely to have been caused by changes since death.

Today Mrs Merrick's distraught husband, who broke down as he took the oath for evidence, said: "I believe what happened is a terrible accident based on what amounts to a fatal decision to make up for walks that Gillian believed amounted to her recovery."

A statement from Mr Merrick read to the court said the family had been left "devastated" by her death.

It said: "She was everything to the family and was a major part of it.

"She was the glue that holds us together. I have to try to provide the love and support that Gillian did but it just will not be the same for any of us."

The inquest heard Mrs Merrick had been frustrated and "down" about her rate of recovery, but not to a level to cause her to seek medical help.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember said she did not think there was anything suspicious about Mrs Merrick's death

She said: "Clearly she felt she had not walked sufficiently and in the early hours of January 2 got up to go for a walk. Sadly, her body was discovered some weeks later on March 3."

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At least this family now has closure and can move on. I hope they find peace.
Rest in peace Gillian x

Thanks for the update, my cousin works at Oundle and knows the children. sad case, but at least one small consolation is they found her and got an accidental death verdict.

fred wrote:Thanks for the update, my cousin works at Oundle and knows the children. sad case, but at least one small consolation is they found her and got an accidental death verdict.

Totally agree Fred.
I do hope they can now move on and rebuild their lives. Very sad.