Dinner lady froze to death

Updated 11.42 Fri Oct 10 2008
Keywords: South Benfleet Primary School, Linda Gent

A primary school cook who was found dead in a freezer died from hypothermia, a coroner has said.

The body of Linda Gent, 53, was discovered at South Benfleet Primary School in Benfleet, Essex, on September 27 - 15 hours after she was reported missing.

A spokesman for the Essex coroner confirmed post mortem tests had identified hypothermia as the cause of death

Sources said detectives were not treating the incident as murder.

A spokesman for the Essex coroner confirmed post-mortem tests had identified hypothermia as the cause of death.

He said further toxicology tests were being carried out.

Pills were recovered from the school, close to the "large chest freezer" where Mrs Gent's body was found, police said.

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