Linda Fentum vanished during a diving holiday near Kinlochbervie in the west Highlands sparking a 'mayday' emergency response.
Mystery continues to surround the death of an experienced diver who went missing off the coast of Scotland.
Linda Fentum vanished during a diving holiday near Kinlochbervie in the west Highlands sparking a 'mayday' emergency response.
A full-scale coastguard rescue operation was launched when the 62-year-old, also known as Linda Prenter, failed to resurface from the water at around 11am on Thursday, July 1, 2020.
The mum-of-one - who was from Malvern in Worcestershire - was a passionate scuba diver, reports Birmingham Live.
She was a commercial douser and water diviner - and one of the final posts on her Facebook page was a photo of the sea with her caption: "Can’t live without it".
Tributes for the NHS IT trainer flooded in from devastated friends and family following the tragic news.
Linda was described as “fun”, “always on the go”, “a continual source of inspiration” and “the first one to let her hair down”.
Reports are being compiled for a coroner into the events that unfolded last summer when the Maritime and Coastguard Agency raised the alarm.
Police Scotland said a multi-agency search was carried out involving Coastguard rescue teams, a helicopter and the RNLI.
They added that Linda was part of a group on a dive vessel near Kinlochbervie but failed to resurface.
Kinlochbervie and Melness coastguard rescue teams, Lochinver RNLI lifeboat and the search and rescue helicopter from Stornoway were sent to the scene.
A Marine and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said at the time that a mayday call was put out to any nearby vessels to request their assistance in the search. The coastguard emergency tow vessel and Ievoli Black also joined the search effort further offshore.
They spokesperson added: “Despite the extensive search of the area throughout the day, we could not find the diver and the decision was made by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre to terminate the search.
"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the missing diver.”
Linda lived in South Africa for years and returned to the UK in 2005 when she also became a professional douser, helping archaeologists find underground walls and also farmers and residents find borehole sites for a supply of pure water. She had a success rate of over 90%.
A water diviner colleague, Trish Mills, expressed “great sadness” at Linda’s death adding: "Linda was fast becoming one of the foremost as well as youngest dousers in the country. She was an experienced diver and it is a tremendous shock and loss to all who knew her."
The British Society of Dowsers awarded Linda a post-humous honour of outstanding achievement - The Talbot Award - following her death, which was passed on to her daughter.
Before her death Linda was set to help support people in the Zambia for charity Village Water, which installs wells, boreholes and associated sanitation for African villages.
She would have trained local people how to dowse to improve their chances of finding good, clean water.
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