Tragic end to search for missing Sandra Hall

Emma and Izzy Cullingford were taken to the small copse on Tye Lane where Sandra Hall died.

Flowers were laid within the isolated wooded area, which backs on to a ploughed field, by Emma and Izzy, who were also joined by Mrs Hall’s brother.

They were accompanied on the emotional journey on Monday by Inspector Nick Bowman. He had headed the huge search to find Aldwick woman Mrs Hall in the month she had been missing.

Insp Bowman said: “Mrs Hall’s daughters were always of the opinion that this might have been the conclusion.

“The reality of the situation is starting to sink in but they are a family of strong dignity.”

“This is clearly very tragic news for her family and friends.

“Our thoughts are with them as they start to come to terms with their loss.”

Police have said no suspicious circumstances were linked to the discovery of her body.

Emma, 29, said on behalf of her family: “Sandra touched and lit up the lives of so many people she met or befriended over the years in West Sussex, Lancaster and Cumbria.

“She was a generous, loving spirit, always prepared to go that extra mile to help and support others, despite the difficulties she had for many years coping with her bi-polar disorder.

“She is, and always will be, deeply loved by her family and her many friends, who so much wanted her to be safe so that she could re-start her life with the care and support she neeed to start flourishing again.”

Mrs Hall went missing exactly a month before she was found by a walker.

She left the Gunwin Court home she shared with her father at 10.20am on February 3 to go to a nearby church.

She caught a train to Barnham, instead, where she was last seen just after she had left the Co-op store in the village heading for Barnham Lane and Lake Lane.