The body of a mother-of-four who was buried at sea at the weekend was found washed ashore on a private hotel beach yesterday lunchtime.

Deborah Elizabeth Santucci Smith was discovered by a female guest in the sand at The Reefs resort in Southampton, just before noon.

The 48-year-old had been buried at sea on Sunday following a funeral at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Southampton.

Police said last night that they were still establishing the identity of the body but Mrs. Smith?s daughter confirmed it was her mother.

She told that the family was too distressed to comment.

Mrs. Smith, whose husband Carlton is believed to have died last year, was said by friends to love fishing and the ocean.

Anthony Faries, godfather of Mrs. Smith?s son Carlton (CJ) and manager of Henry?s Pantry and Liquor Store in Southampton, said she swam in Sinky Bay almost every day.

?Debbie was one of my first customers,? he said. ?She was an all-round great person.?

He said the grandmother-of-five had been ?ill off and on? for a while but that her death was unexpected.

Mr. Faries said that after the funeral service on Sunday, close family and friends had attended the sea burial, after setting off in boats from Robinson?s Marina, in Somerset.

?The church was packed,? he said. ?She was from a big family, one of more than ten kids.?

He said he had spoken to his godson and other family members, who were ?very upset? and were now planning to bury her on land.

Store assistant Jennifer Pedro, another friend of the family, described Mrs. Smith as ?a bubbly person, outgoing, very loving?. She added: ?I have been to a lot of burials at sea and this would be the first time that something like that had happened.

?It?s almost impossible for bodies not to sink.?

A source within the Police Service also said it was a highly unusual occurrence.

?I haven?t seen anything like this before,? he said. ?I hope that if you were burying somebody you would take somebody far enough out and use the right weights.?

Holidaymakers watched yesterday as police officers cordoned off the area around Mrs. Smith?s body and took her inside the hotel.

Police spokesman Dwayne Caines said a Police doctor had verified that she was dead before an undertaker was called to remove the body from the resort.

He said: ?A member of the public was sunning on the beach and they noticed the lifeless body of the individual in the sand.?

He added: ?Police are carrying out specific lines of inquiry to identify the individual. At this point in time we are not leaving any stone unturned.?

Ben Tutt, managing director of The Reefs, said police had already arrived at the scene by the time he got to the beach.

?It was a quick and thorough response. They took care of the body very appropriately.

?We did notify our guests of what was happening by personally speaking to each of them.?

He described the woman who found the body as ?fine?.

?She said ?it?s unfortunate, but I?m fine?. It hasn?t seemed to bother the guests much. Guests remained in the restaurant and remained on the beach.?

The sea burial is believed to have been carried out by Amis Memorial Chapels of Warwick. Undertaker Leon Amis could not be contacted for comment last night.