Photographer, 50, whose work featured in Vogue is found dead in Hampstead Heath pond after going for a swim

Sussie Ahlburg, 50, reported missing after not returning from the pond

Police launch search and her body was later pulled from the water

Swedish photographer's work had appeared in TimeOut and Vogue



Water death: Sussie Ahlburg, 50, was discovered dead after going for a swim at a bathing pond on Hampstead Heath

A leading photographer whose work has appeared in Vogue magazine was found dead in a pond on Hampstead Heath after she went for a swim.

Sussie Ahlburg, 50, was reported missing after she cycled to the ladies' swimming pond but failed to return to her home in Holborn, London, on Sunday evening.

A search operation was launched and the Swedish woman was later pulled out of the water dead by police divers yesterday.

The pond in north London was closed to the public yesterday while an investigation got underway.

It is thought that she may have had a heart condition.



Detective Sergeant Trevor Plumb from Camden CID said: 'Sussie's death is being treated as unexplained but we are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen her around the ladies' pond during Sunday 4 August.

'Sussie is five feet 10 inches tall, slim, greying hair, long legs, wearing a white "Speedo" swimming hat, blue/transparent prescription swimming goggles, dark navy/black tankini.

'She would have travelled to the pond using her folding black Brompton bicycle. Anyone who has any information or who was in the area at the time is asked to call police on 101.'

Police helicopters launched a search for Ms Ahlburg on Sunday evening before the Marine Police Unit were sent to search the water the following day.



Search: Police close the woman's bathing pond on Hampstead Heath yesterday as they searched for the missing photographer

Tragedy: The ladies' pond on Hampstead Heath, in north London, where Sussie Ahlburg died

According to her website, Ms Ahlburg had photographs published in the Guardian, The Times and Time Magazine, and she had recently started making films.

Ms Ahlburg, who was born in Stockholm, later studied photography at the Central School of Art in London.

A colleague said he was too upset to talk.

A spokesman for the City of London Corporation, which runs the heath, said: 'We are currently assisting police with enquiries into the circumstances of this very sad death.

'The swimming community on the heath is a very close one and our thoughts go out to the family and friends who have been affected by this news'.

A post-mortem examination is due to take place at St Pancras Mortuary.

Her work: A portrait of cellist Natalie Clein (left) and a picture of conductor Juanjo Mena (right). Sussie Ahlburg took both pictures for the BBC



Shutdown: The lake was closed while a police dive unit went into the water. They later recovered a body