The tragic death of a beloved teaching assistant and mother from Doncaster is not being treated as suspicious, police have confirmed.
South Yorkshire Police launched a huge search for "kind and caring" Pam Johnson, 63, who vanished from near her home in on Thursday, March 14. A widespread search was launched, with CCTV footage showing her last-known movements at the junction of Winchester Avenue and Thorne Road in Wheatley at around 7.30pm.
Also known as Shirley, Pam seemingly vanished in the space of a few minutes. Officers began searching Sandall Beat Wood near to where she disappeared and, the day before her body was found, underwater search teams were deployed at Barnby Dun near to the River Don and the canal, near to Doncaster.
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On March 25, a body was found. The police thanked the public for their help in the case and said they were now supporting Pam's family.
Tributes poured in for the Kingfisher Primary Academy teaching assistant, who was described as "caring, lovely and kind". Pam’s daughter, Sam Johnson, said: "We appreciate all the efforts you have made in helping to find her and we cannot thank you all enough for the love you have all shown to us and especially my mum.
"My mother would be completely overwhelmed with the amount of love and care that has been shown throughout the previous days running up to this horrible ending."
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Kingfisher Primary Academy, where Pam worked, also paid tribute, saying: "Everyone is deeply saddened to hear that the police have found a body. Whilst there is no confirmation yet that the body is Mrs Johnson’s, this will clearly be an upsetting development to Pam’s family and to the whole school community.
"Our immediate thoughts and condolences are with Pam’s family, friends, and loved ones. We are supporting staff and pupils throughout the day and we will be ensuring that pupils and staff know where to get any additional support they need.
"We will keep our school community updated on our plans to pay tribute to Mrs Johnson when the time is right. In the coming days, we will all deal with this news differently and we know that everyone in our school community will be respectful of each other and sensitive in our interactions."
It has now been confirmed that South Yorkshire Police are not treating her death as suspicious. A file is also now being prepared for the coroner.
The force have also confirmed they will be making a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). They added that this is standard practice when a missing person is found dead.
According to guidelines from the IOPC, it is important to assess police contact, or the lack of police contact, leading up to an incident. This includes everything from the management of known risk, the way a missing person's report is graded to failing to protect a vulnerable person who is at risk of harm.
The guidelines say police should consider whether a "different response, behaviour or intervention by the police might have led to a different outcome."
