This is the moment a Microsoft executive visits a restaurant with a male friend just hours before her body was found drowned by a private members club on the Thames.
Security camera footage obtained by the Daily Mail captured the moment Jennifer Symonds, 44, called into a Mediterranean-style bistro in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, at 9.05pm last Thursday.
The CCTV clip shows her wearing a full-length black jacket and chatting briefly to a member of staff who tells her that the kitchen had just closed for the evening.
She waves her hand in thanks, turns and leaves.
Her body was found drowned at 7.50am the following morning within the grounds of the Phyllis Court Club, a private members club next to the River Thames about half a mile from the restaurant.
She had met up with a friend earlier on Thursday evening to go for drinks around Henley.
Nelio Gouveia, 44, understood to work as a kitchen porter at the club, was arrested and later charged with murder.
He appeared before Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Jennifer Symonds, 44, was found dead in the water in Henley-on-Thames on Friday, March 6
Nelio Gouveia, 44, (L), understood to have worked as a kitchen porter at the club, was arrested and later charged with murder
Miss Symonds had been a senior customer success account manager at Microsoft and had worked at the firm’s UK headquarters in Reading for more than six years before being made redundant in January 2025.
Before Microsoft, she had worked for a number of companies in London and Gloucester and had studied physical geography at the University of Gloucestershire between 2000 and 2003, where she was also hockey captain.
A friend said: ‘She was finding it tough to get a new job after Microsoft and felt that her life had begun to unravel slightly.
‘She told me that she’d been to court last summer after accusing a former partner of assault but he ended up being cleared.
‘I think Jennifer found that hard to take as well. Recently she’d been struggling with her mental health due to being out of work.
‘But she was a really lovely, warm-hearted person who loved to chat to people around town. She was very well-liked.’
Miss Symonds lived in a first-floor flat above a hairdresser’s in the centre of Henley, a three-minute walk from the River.
She would regularly visit a pet shop opposite to buy feed for the ducks and would be a regular in some of the well-heeled town’s pubs.
Police and paramedics pictured searching the River Thames in Henley-on-Thames, south Oxfordshire, on Saturday, March 7
A bar manager at The Argyll pub said: ‘Jennifer would pop in now and again, sometimes on her own and sometimes with a group of friends.
‘I found her to be really happy, chatty and friendly. She was a lovely soul.’
Appearing at Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday, Gouveia wore a grey prison uniform and looked at the ground throughout the hearing.
A trial date, with a time estimate of seven days, was set for September 1. A plea and trial preparation hearing will also take place on May 29.
Phyllis Court Club has now re-opened after Thames Valley Police had cordoned off a pavilion and towpath opposite the club and asked rowers not to pass.
A spokesperson for the force said on Tuesday: ‘Thames Valley Police can now confirm the identity of the victim in the ongoing murder investigation in Henley.
‘Officers were called to Phyllis Court Drive, Henley, on Friday (March 6) following the death of a woman.
‘This woman has been identified as Jennifer Symonds, aged 44, from Henley. A formal identification will follow in due course.
‘Her next of kin are being supported by specially trained family liaison officers and our thoughts remain with the family.
‘Jennifer’s family have requested that their privacy is respected at this extremely difficult time.’
The force has said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with their investigation.
A post-mortem carried out on Sunday recorded the woman’s cause of death as drowning.
