A body was recovered from the river at Skenfrith late on Sunday evening (27th July) following a multi-agency search-and-rescue operation. A police helicopter was called at 7.25pm to the area following reports of a missing woman after her young son was found walking alone in the village looking for his mother. Police and ambulance services arrived shortly afterwards and a Severn Area and Rescue Association (SARA) crew arrived at 8.20pm. Police were checking a stationary vehicle parked close to the castle. A police dog unit was used to search the bank while rescuers entered the water above the bridge and began searching with poles. South Wales Fire and Rescue appliances from Monmouth arrived on the scene around 8.30pm and were supported by a rescue tender from Malpas and a swift water rescue team from Ebbw Vale and the Welsh Ambulance Service's Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) team. SARA (Severn Area Rescue Association) swift-water rescue crews from Beachley, Chepstow, Monmouth and Newport made a search of the deep pools above the bridge while the Monmouth fire and rescue crew, entered the river the lower side of the bridge and checked downstream. The bridge was closed off to through traffic at 9.30pm to enable search lights mounted on the appliances to station themselves on the bridge and continue the search as the light dimmed. Eventually a body was recovered in the deep pool upper side of the bridge at around 10.15pm and the search was called off. Incident commander Darren Cleaves of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service warned the public to be aware of the dangers of swimming in rivers during the warm weather. A police spokesman said: "Emergency Services and SARA were called to Skenfrith on the evening of Sunday 27th July, following concerns for the safety of a woman. "The body of a 34-year-old woman from Coventry was recovered from the River Monnow. "The death is not being treated as suspicious." • It was in the hot summer of 1976 when the last death from drowning occurred at Skenfrith