Security camera footage has documented the last public sighting of Jennifer Symonds, 44, before her body was found beside the River Thames in England. She was with Nelio Gouveia, 45, who admitted in court to killing her on March 6.
According to footage obtained by the British newspaper the Daily Mail, Symonds and Gouveia arrived at around 9:15 p.m. at a Mediterranean restaurant in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Their meeting ended before they sat down, after a waiter told them the kitchen had closed.
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In the video, Symonds is wearing a long black coat, while Gouveia can be seen behind her in a black jacket and ripped jeans. After exchanging a few words with the waiter, the 44-year-old thanks him with a gesture of her hand and leaves.
She was found dead at 7:50 a.m. the following morning, beside the River Thames on the grounds of the private Phyllis Court Club. The location was about half a mile from the restaurant where she had been seen with Gouveia, and it is believed this was the last time Symonds was seen alive.
Reports say she had met Gouveia earlier that evening for a drink. Between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m., a noise and a crash were heard near a pavilion close to the club.
Gouveia, who is suspected of having worked as an assistant chef at the private club, was arrested at the scene and charged with murder. At Oxford Crown Court, he pleaded guilty. During the brief hearing, wearing a gray prison uniform and assisted by a Portuguese interpreter, he stood with his head bowed.
Judge Ian Pringle ordered Gouveia to be remanded in custody. The next hearing, at which he is expected to be sentenced, is scheduled for November 20.
Symonds had worked for more than six years at Microsoft’s UK headquarters in Reading as a senior account and customer relations manager. She left the company in January 2025.
A friend said that after leaving Microsoft, the 44-year-old had struggled to find a new job and was going through a difficult time personally. He said she was also worried about a court case the previous year in which she had accused a former partner of physical assault; he was found not guilty.
The friend described Jennifer as loving, kind-hearted and very popular with local residents, whom she often spoke with. She lived in a first-floor apartment above a beauty salon in the center of Henley-on-Thames, just three minutes from the river.
After her death, friends asked that memorial flowers be placed beside a bench at Red Lion Lawn, a spot Jennifer called her favorite.
Inspector Rob Underhill, of the Thames Valley Police Major Crime Unit, expressed his condolences to the family, who had lost a loved one. He described Gouveia’s actions as serious and said the case reflected the police’s commitment to investigating violence against women and girls.
