Mother Died From Cold Shock After Falling Into Icy River Following Family Row

Mother Died From Cold Shock After Falling Into Icy River Following Family Row

A mother died from the shock of cold after falling into an icy river, an inquest heard.

Leda Bolden, 39, left her home in Bedford after an argument without telling her husband, Mark Daley, 44, or 16-year-old daughter, Kasia, where she was going.

The assistant headteacher's family made a desperate month long search effort to find her. But her body was not found until fire officers on routine training discovered it in a river.

An inquest heard Leda had met friends for lunch and drunk about half a bottle of wine on the day she left home, Ampthill Coroner's Court heard.

But despite the coroner recording that the mother may have been drunk he found no other evidence as to why she took her own life.

Recording a narrative verdict, assistant coroner for Bedfordshire Bob Amos said: "The cause of death is immersion and the circumstances in which she came to be in the river are unknown."

He said that there was no evidence that she intended to take her own life or that anyone else was involved in her death.

"However I can conclude that she was likely to have been in an agitated state of mind that evening and that she was under the influence of alcohol when she was last seen," he said.

"My condolences to you it seems as if education has lost a good person and you have lost a good wife and mother. I am very sorry."

Leda disappeared from her family home in Bedford on the evening of March 31 - Easter Sunday.

The body of the assistant headteacher at Our Lady Catholic Primary School in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, was found in the River Great Ouse near the priory marina in Bedford on April 30.

The inquest heard Leda has been in the river for some time - probably since the night she went missing. A post-mortem examination revealed that there were no signs of trauma or violence.

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