People who knew Ms Watson have taken to social media to write tributes, with one calling her the “most wonderful woman” and others saying she was “kind” and “considerate”.
Northumbria Police said a formal identification of the body had yet to be carried out.
In a joint statement the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, and the Bishop of Berwick, the Right Reverend Mark Wroe, said they mourned Ms Watson’s death with a “deep feeling of loss”.
She lived her vocation in “service, compassion and humility”, they said, adding: “Our first thoughts are with her partner Emily and their children and all who knew and loved Katie.”
