A woman, who went for a walk two and a half years ago and never came back, has been found dead a couple of miles from her home.
Christina Rack, 48, a volunteer for local charities, left her cul-de-sac home in Chorlton, Manchester, at 8.15pm on October 1 in 2018.
Her family has described her as a “chatty, personable, and funny” person who went for walks with their West Yorkshire terrier Mable bird-watching, according to the Manchester Evening News.
But on that day Mable was already being walked by Christina’s brother Jacob, 25.
After she had been missing for nine days, her family – including sister Elizabeth and parents Henry and Judith – went to the local press to appeal for help.
Another brother, Martin, said: “There was nothing to suspect that she was going to disappear. There was no issue, no argument within the family which had come to a head.
“She had mental health issues and had been on medication and there was some indication the week before that she was getting a bit anxious.”
Christina suffered from mental health issues and had disappeared for half a day once before.
The last person to see her was her daughter, Lola, then 23.
Her mobile phone had stopped working an hour and a half after she left home, and was later found in Sale Water Park.
Police enlisted the help of the Bolton Mountain Rescue Team and the GMP Underwater Search Team, Tactical Aid Unit, and neighbourhood officers in a search for Christina, but found no trace.
They also released CCTV footage of the area where Christina was thought to have gone missing. The image included a car, which was thought to be significant, but the lead went nowhere.
It would be another two and a half years before her family got the terrible news.
Dog walkers found a body in the Chorlton Ees nature reserve area close to the River Mersey around noon on Tuesday, April 13 of this year.
The body has now been identified as Christina.
DI Chris Maddocks, of GMP’s City of Manchester South district, said their team searched “extensively” in the area back in 2018, including with “an underwater search team, a helicopter, drone, specialist search dogs and officers on the ground”.
He said it was possible changes in the water level meant her body had moved.
Christina’s mother Judith Rack said: “We’d like to thank the police for their extensive search and their support since 2018, and the public for their help.
“We are a private family and would now like time to grieve. We still miss Christina terribly and always will.”
Police continue to investigate the circumstances around Christina’s death.