The woman who died after slipping and getting into difficulties at a St Cyrus beauty spot on Hogmanay has been named as Lynne Watt.
Tributes have been paid to Lynne, a wife and mum, by her colleagues at St Cyrus National Nature Reserve.
A rescue mission was launched after Lynne slipped and got into difficulties at Den Finella at around 2pm on Hogmanay.
Body recovered on New Year’s Day
The search was called off after around five hours with no sighting of Lynne that night.
The 53-year-old’s body was discovered the following day.
On January 1 a Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Police recovered the body of a 53-year-old female and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.”
The A92 in Kincardineshire was also closed to allow emergency services access to the area with coastguard teams, police, firefighters and paramedics all scrambled to the scene.
Lynne was ‘an invaluable member of the team’
Commenting on the St Cyrus National Nature Reserve Facebook page, her colleagues described Lynne as the “loveliest woman”.
A post said: “Many of you will now have heard that we have lost an invaluable and much-loved member of the St Cyrus NNR team.
“Lynne Watt sadly lost her life after a tragic accident on New Year’s Eve.
“Lynne was the loveliest woman, always warm, smiling and friendly.
“Many of you will have enjoyed a blether with her on site in the mornings and evenings. She always did the most incredible job, keeping us and the place sparkling and going above and beyond to help out.
“Our thoughts are with Neil her husband, her children and all her family and friends.”
It added: “Over the coming weeks there may be days that we will be unable to open the visitor centre. Please bear with us during this phase of readjustment.”
Last month, Lynne began new cleaning business St Cyrus Sparkles.
On December 13 her husband Neil took to social media to say she was already fully booked with clients.
At the time he said: “I’m so proud of all she’s built up in a year based on performance, reputation, word of mouth.
“She’s the best at what she does.”
Den of Finella
Den Finella’s waterfall is known as the “lost waterfall of Scotland.”
Shrouded in folklore and mystery, the den is named after noblewoman-turned-assassin Finella, who supposedly leapt to her death here in 995.
