More than seven years after chancing upon Carol Park's body in the dark depths of Coniston Water, Kendal diver Dave Mason wonders whether the discovery was really for the best.

"If she had never been found it might have been better for the kids," speculates Mr Mason as he shifts in his chair at his Kendal home. "They might be happy they have been able to bury their mother but I doubt it. I would have thought it would be better to live in hope."

He has had plenty of time to think about it since he and fellow divers John Walsh and David Walker, of the Kendal and Lakes Sub-Aqua Club, saw what they thought was an old sail bag or outboard motor 24.6 metres down just off Bayliff Wood.

It was on the edge of an under water slope; another five metres over and it would have fallen to the bottom and, at 60m, ten metres below the limit recreational divers tend to explore, Carol Park would probably have never been found.

The trio, who often went looking for old motors and interesting junk, used a lift bag and float to send the bundle to the surface on August 13, 1997. After dragging it to shore, Mr Mason cut open the bundle and caught sight of what he recognised as a shoulder blade. The divers dialled 999 and spent the day showing police divers where they had made their grim find.

"Although it was a body, it didn't really bother me until it was a person and they named her," said Mr Mason.

He has tried to forget about it since but each time the case came into the public eye the memories resurfaced.

As a Dad himself he imagines how tough it must be for the Parks' three children, coping not just with the brutal death of their mother but with the anguish and divided loyalties of seeing their father convicted of her murder.

While he believes it might have been easier on them not to know their mother's fate, he is not so sure that ignorance would have been kinder for everyone.

"Carol Park's brother Ivor thanked us for finding her and putting an end to a lifetime of thinking she had run off. That was nice."