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A Hull model who went missing 40 years ago has been "declared dead" by a coroner following an inquest.

Gloria Bielby was last seen on February 2, 1979, getting into a red Ford Escort with a man outside her home in Dawnay Road, Bilton.

The married 36-year-old mum worked at Reckitt and Coleman as a secretary and told no one of her plans to leave.

Hull Live has previously told how the last sighting of her was at 11.30am by a neighbour who believed she saw Gloria putting a suitcase into the boot of the car, which was being driven by a well-dressed, middle-aged man.

Four decades on, and an inquest has finally taken place, being held in Hull on Tuesday.

The Yorkshire Post reports how assistant coroner David Rosenberg said her never contacting her son who she “obviously loved greatly” was the most crucial evidence in reaching the conclusion that she was dead.

It reports how Mr Rosenberg said although Mrs Bielby would now have been drawing a pension, there was “no proof of life on any data record.”

“Over 40 years have elapsed and no evidence has been produced about Mrs Bielby trying to contact her son or other members of her family," he said.

The Yorkshire Post reports how the inquest heard the mother was having an affair with a married man, despite sharing the same home as her husband and said the court heard how she was “never short of invitations for lunches and evenings out” and “had other boyfriends, but nothing serious”.

It says the man the 36-year-old was having an affair with thought she was going to leave her husband for him “some time” in 1979.

A statement read to the inquest from 1979 said about 9.30pm on February 1 1979, she was dropped off by the boyfriend and visited her sister, whom was her twin and lived across the road. It said she went to sleep on the sofa.

Watch: What is an inquest?

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But around 11pm, it is thought she returned home, the last time her husband saw her. She had asked him for money for a car.

His statement said: “About 6am on Friday February 2 the alarm went off, I woke up and just after this I heard Gloria leave the house and a car leave the driveway.”

It was when he realised clothes were gone and that she had "left" him.

He said: “I realised then that she had left me; I always thought in the back of my mind she would leave me but I was still upset.”

The "boyfriend" and Gloria had reportedly even been talking about getting married.

His statement said: "I thought prior to her disappearance that the time was imminent."

She reportedly told him a few months before her disappearance that she had a passport.

And despite a neighbour remembering another man visiting at lunchtime about a couple of times a week - “a smart man who always wore a suit and collar and tie” - he had said he "saw her every evening" so questioned the idea she had left with someone else.

The neighbour claimed the other well-dressed man's car was outside the house at 12.15pm and said: "I could hear people running up and downstairs and saw Gloria and the man putting things into the boot of the car.”

Humberside Police Detective Superintendent Matt Baldwin said: “We have a number of unsolved cases which are never closed.

“Gloria Bielby’s disappearance is one such case which will continue to be reviewed by the Major Crime Unit.

“Not knowing is bad enough, losing a loved one but not knowing what happened or having a place to go to pay respects must be unbearable.

“Certainly this case has been high profile and having to live through this must have been very difficult in the intervening 40 years."

Described as a devoted mother to her then 11-year-old son, detectives at the time feared the worst as she disappeared without a trace. She has not been in contact with her son, family or friends since.

Hull Live has previously reported how, in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, she had told friends she was afraid to be alone after receiving nuisance telephone calls.

The night before her disappearance her husband Bernard Bielby, who ran a butcher’s shop in Bilton Grange, east Hull, gave her money to buy a new car as part of a separation settlement.

There were rumours Gloria had been dating other men in the area. It is believed she had connections to sportsmen and businessmen in the area.

In 2013, Humberside Police reopened the investigation into her disappearance under a “cold case” review.

At the time, Detective Chief Inspector Matt Hutchinson said: “This is a review of a long-term missing person. We are exploring the possibility she came to some harm.

“She may well have had an accident or committed suicide. We need to review all of the case papers and explore all of the possibilities.

“We will be concentrating on the last time she was seen and what the inquiry found after that."

A key part of the reopened investigation focussed on trying to identify the man Gloria got into the car with, who was never traced.

In 2018, Hull Live reported how, as it stood at the time, a cold case review did not bring to light any significant new information.

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