An inquest into the death of a pensioner heard she likely slipped and fell into a ditch.
Shirley Margaret Jones (72) of South Drove, Quadring, was reported missing in the early hours of January 13 earlier this year.
Her body was found later that morning at around 9.15am face down in a 12 foot deep ditch at Quadring Fen, the hearing was told.
Despite attempts to resuscitate her, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a statement to the inquest her husband Peter said that she’d been on walks at night before but always returned.
He’d seen her outside with her coat on after letting the dog out at around 11pm the previous evening but thought she’d gone to put her coat back before he headed up to bed.
“By 1am I was now worried and wondered why she’d not returned,” he said. “I called my daughter Tori who was concerned.
“She drove over and we did a search of the house and gardens and then drove around looking for her, but that was unsuccessful.”
Mrs Jones’s body was found with just one shoe on but otherwise fully clothed in water thought to be half a foot deep.
There was no evidence of any trauma injuries or of traces of any alcohol or drugs in her body.
The inquest heard that just before her death, Mrs Jones had been diagnosed with dementia, a diagnosis her family said she disagreed with.
Stating that the cause of death was an accident, coroner Paul Cooper concluded: “The fact she was missing a shoe suggests to me that she slipped, lost her balance and fell into the ditch and couldn’t get out.
“She was submerged in water and that is what killed her.”
