Wednesday 19 March 2014

Mystery man wanted over Claudia Lawrence disappearance


A mystery man whose DNA was found in missing York cook Claudia Lawrence’s car is being searched for five years after her disappearance.


The potential clue is one of several new leads that have emerged since a police review of the murder investigation.


Claudia, 35, should have walked to the University of York to start her 6am shift on the morning of Thursday, March 18, in 2009.


However, she never arrived and was reported missing the following day by her 70-year-old father, Peter.


The police investigation drew a blank and a cold case review was launched in October, which has involved forensically re-examining her Heworth home and re-interviewing family and friends.


North Yorkshire Police detectives have now revealed a number of clues:



  • A DNA profile of an unidentified male has been found on an Embassy Regal cigarette butt left in Claudia’s car.

  • Fingerprints of unidentified people have been found in Claudia's house.

  • Phone records show she spent time in the Acomb area of the city. This time has not been accounted for.

  • Claudia’s hair straighteners were missing from her home.

  • Her mobile phone was probably deliberately turned off at lunchtime on March 18.

  • Police are concentrating on a "number of individuals" but there are no official suspects.


Detective Superintendent Dai Malyn told a news conference that although the last known sighting of Claudia was on Wednesday afternoon, the evidence implies that she went missing the following day.


He said: "Claudia's bed was made and it appears that she had eaten breakfast and brushed her teeth, it is our belief that she had left for work on the morning of Thursday, 19 March, 2009."


Detectives have also released photographs of Claudia's car and the missing hair straighteners and CCTV pictures of a man they want to identify who told staff in a York Co-op store in April 2009 that he knew Claudia.



No comments:

Post a Comment