The identification brings to an end a police search that began over two weeks ago when Mrs Hill vanished from her mobile home at Riverview Caravan Park in Monifieth.

Her husband Kenny and daughter Claire were left seeking answers about the “out of character” disappearance in the early hours of April 6.

They were immediately informed about the discovery on Saturday afternoon almost 40 miles away at Dunbar, and the decision to bring the body to Dundee for identification was a further hint the hunt might be at an end.

A spokesperson for Tayside Police said today, “We can confirm the body of a woman found on the shoreline at Dunbar in East Lothian on Saturday has been identified as 41-year-old Linda Hill of Riverview Caravan Park, Monifieth.

“There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death and, as with all sudden deaths, a report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.”

Mrs Hill’s disappearance followed what was initially described as a “normal” night out with her husband Kenny as she continued her recovery from a bout of pneumonia.

However, it subsequently emerged she had been arrested by Tayside Police in connection with a disturbance in Monifieth. The mother-of-one spent several hours in the cells before being dropped off by officers at the caravan less than an hour before she was last seen.

That fact was withheld from the public during a series of public appeals, including a tearful plea from Mr Hill for his “scared” wife to come home.

The hunt for Mrs Hill included a massive sweep of the area around her home, with a search and rescue helicopter and divers drafted in.

A member of the public came forward and reported seeing someone in the chilly water near the caravan park at around the time she went missing.

It also emerged she was an employee of troubled Dundee firm Texol, and one friend speculated that job cuts there may have had an impact on her state of mind.

The Hill family did not want to make any comment today.