Mother seeks answers about her son's lake death

A grieving mother says she still does not know how her son died, nearly three months after his body was discovered in a lake.

Jamie Attwood, 37, was found in Stanwick Lakes, Northamptonshire, three days after he was reported missing.

Northamptonshire Police has renewed its appeal for witnesses to get in contact.

Mr Attwood's mother, Tracy Baker, said she was "begging for people to come forward". An inquest into his death is due to be held in February.

Ms Baker said her son, from Raunds, was "the sweetest, kindest person you could ever want to meet.

"He did have his problems - he had ADHD, he was also in early-stage Huntingdon's [disease]," she said.

"Sometimes it was difficult for him, with the mood swings and the mental health that comes with Huntingdon's.

"But he'd run the London Marathon, raised awareness, and he had so many dreams - holidays he wanted to do.

"He loved life."

Mr Attwood went missing on the evening of 27 July, which was a hot summer's day.

It is thought he started on his usual walk home in Irthlingborough, through the Stanwick Lakes nature reserve to Raunds, but he never made it home.

His body was discovered in one of the lakes in an area that was fenced off with barbed wire.

His mother is certain his intention was to make his way home because he would "never ever leave Angel, his parrot".

Mr Attwood's route through Stanwick Lakes took him over a bridge which Ms Baker described as "so busy, there's people fishing, there's children playing in the water".

She said he had lost his phone and would often seek help from passers-by.

"Numerous times, he'd stop people and say 'I need to phone my mum - please can I use your phone?'

"Did he do that that day?"

With several online appeals bringing no answers, Ms Baker is finding it difficult to move on without knowing what happened to her son.

She said: "It's just so difficult to try and lead a normal life.

"This is my life: searching for the answers, just begging people to come forward, even if you don't think it's relevant, just anything, so I can make sense of what happened."

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