An estate agent whose body was washed up on a beach three weeks after she disappeared had to be identified from dental records, an inquest heard.
Chelsie Dack, 23, went missing in the early hours of April 20 during the first lockdown from her flat in High Street, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk.
A huge police hunt was launched for her involving police and coastguard helicopters, dog units and volunteers from Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue.
The search was called off two days later after Norfolk Police confirmed that it was believed she had entered the sea at Gorleston.
Officers said they had recovered CCTV showing her walking towards the seafront and the mouth of the River Yare.
A member of the public also recovered her mobile phone from the town’s pier.
More than 13,000 people joined a Find Chelsie Dack group on Facebook and her friends and relatives distributed scores of missing person posters asking for any information.
Norfolk Coroner’s Court in Norwich heard on Monday how her body was discovered on May 11 on the beach at Sizewell, Suffolk, around 25 miles from her home.
The body of Chelsie, who worked as a sales negotiator at Howards estate agents in Lowestoft, was identified by an odontologist, an expert in forensic dentistry.
Home Office pathologist Dr Nat Cary gave her cause of death as being “consistent with immersion in water”.
The inquest was adjourned for a full hearing on March 15.
Chelsie’s mother Dawn Howell described her at the time of her disappearance as “just the loveliest caring and beautiful young lady”.
Mrs Howell added that it was “out of character” for her to go missing and said her family were “totally heartbroken”.
She said: “I cannot get my head around this. It’s very out of the ordinary as she is the most bubbliest person.
“She really is so happy and cheerful. I’ve got no idea at all why she might have gone missing.”
Mrs Howell who also lives in Gorleston added that said she did not believe that her pink-haired daughter had become depressed due to the coronavirus lockdown.
She said at the time: “I don’t think it was anything to do with that. She was happy. We just don’t understand it.”
Mrs Howell added: “I cannot get my head around this. It’s very out of the ordinary as she is the most bubbliest person.
“She really is so happy and cheerful. I’ve got no idea at all why she might have gone missing.”
Chelsie had admitted in a Facebook post three weeks before her disappearance that she found the coronavirus paramedic “scarier by the day.”
She wrote: “I really underestimated this current situation, and I never really make a Facebook post but I wanted too tonight.
“I don’t watch the news because I think it makes me feel worse but I see things and read about them online and it gets scarier by the day.”