Agreed: a sad story. Almost certainly one of those times when an IMC rating would have been a life-saver. Low-time pilot; fast aircraft; scudding along at lowish level over the water on one of those days when the Channel and the sky turn into one large disorienting pool of milky haze...If the autopilot did become disconnected for any reason, it's hard to envisage that scenario resulting in any kind of happy ending.