‘Lady in lake’ husband arrested

THE husband of the “Lady in the Lake” murder victim who vanished from her home in 1976 and whose body was found in 1997, was arrested in connection with her death yesterday.

Carol Park, 30, disappeared from her home at Leece, near Barrow in Cumbria, in 1976, and her body was found in 1997 in Coniston Water, one of the largest lakes in the area.

A police source confirmed that a man arrested in Barrow in connection with the death was husband Gordon Park, now 59.

The police spokesman said: “We can confirm a 59-year-old man has been arrested in Barrow on suspicious of murder.

“He has been taken to Barrow police station where he is helping police with their inquiries.”

Amateur divers found Carol Park’s body of Carol Park weighed down and wrapped in bin liners, 21 years after she disappeared. Wearing a nightdress, she was found at the bottom of the lake.

The murdered woman was dubbed the “Lady in the Lake” by detectives, after the Raymond Chandler crime novel of the same name.

At the time Mr Park, a retired teacher, told police his wife had not come on a family trip to Blackpool because she was ill. He said when they returned home to Leece, she had vanished. She was never seen again.

Police said today that the murder file had never been closed and the arrest followed new leads.