Claudia Lawrence Case: Officers Search House

My friends, this was taken from Sky News:

http://news.sky.com/story/1160844/claudia-lawrence-case-officers-search-house

Suspect is targeted in missing Claudia Lawrence case


DETECTIVES hunting missing chef Claudia Lawrence have a prime suspect in their sights after discovering “significant” new leads as the fifth anniversary of her disappearance looms on Tuesday.

By: Eugene Henderson and James MurrayPublished: Sun, March 16, 201

They will unveil information on two car drivers they urgently want to trace in a special Crimewatch appeal on Wednesday which will also focus on her last known movements.

A source confirmed officers are keenly interested in one person they think may know what happened. Officers are said to have new evidence “pointing towards a prime suspect” but are unwilling to provide further details.

Claudia’s mysterious disappearance when she was 35 has become one of the highest profile missing-person cases this century. Police suspect she was abducted and murdered but have been unable to find her body.

She was last seen by colleagues at York University on March 18, 2009, when she finished her shift. That evening she spoke to her parents Peter and Joan and was thought to be at home in York.

Theories are that someone arrived there that evening and left with her or she was abducted the following morning as she walked to work. Last October forensic experts spent weeks combing her home for fresh clues.

An insider said: “Saying too much could compromise the investigation but there are some significant new leads pointing towards one individual.

“After so long with nothing happening the cold-case review has taken a fresh approach and they believe it’s reaping rewards.

“Officers are keeping in close contact with family members and that is a very important part of this new approach.”

Claudia’s parents and older sister Ali, 42, have been interviewed again.

The cold-case review is being run by North Yorkshire Police’s new Major Crime Unit led by senior detectives not involved in the original inquiry, the costliest in the force’s history.

Detective Superintendent Dai Malyn took over from Ray Galloway who retired last year after more than three years leading the investigation. Claudia’s mother clashed with Mr Galloway over claims he made about her daughter’s private life. He believed the answer to her disappearance lay in her love life amid suggestions she had affairs with married men.

Joan, 71, welcomed the new team’s approach. “It’s like being in a different world. They are not obsessed with Claudia’s private life and I think that will help them get to the bottom of this.

“I really hope they do because no one can understand what it’s like not knowing. That day in 2009 we were all plunged into a nightmare that has no end. Days turn into weeks, they turn into months, then the years pass and still we have no idea what happened to Claudia.”

Tomorrow Peter Lawrence will hold a press conference in York to make fresh appeals for information. It will coincide with his daughter’s image appearing nationwide on billboards as part of a national missing-person campaign.

Crimewatch, BBC One, Wednesday, 9pm.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/465123/Suspect-is-targeted-in-missing-Claudia-Lawrence-case

Here's hoping it's not too late to find out what happened to Claudia.

"Nothing can close that void" - Claudia Lawrence's friend describes life without her five years on

7:49pm Sunday 16th March 2014 in News

By Emily Flanagan


ONE of Claudia Lawrence’s closest friends has said until the mystery of her disappearance is solved, “nothing can close the void” created by her absence.
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of Claudia Lawrence’s disappearance, one of her friends, Jen King, from York, has described the emotional limbo those closest to her still feel.
Claudia Lawrence was last seen after leaving work at Goodricke College, part of York University, on the afternoon of March 18, 2009. After speaking to her parents by telephone that night, she has not been seen or heard from since.

Despite a huge police operation involving more than 100 police officers, no sign of her has yet been found. Police believe she was murdered, but it remains one of Britain’s most high profile, unsolved cases.
A review of the case was one of the first tasks of an expanded, better financed major crime unit in North Yorkshire towards the end of last year. The latest investigation is believed to have produced new leads – concerning Ms Lawrence’s last-known movements - which will be aired on BBC’s Crimewatch on Wednesday, along with a police appeal to trace two vehicles seen in the area at the time.

“I had the police round recently and they were doing a fantastic job; they’re still interviewing more than five years on to see if there’s something that could have been missed at the time. But everything I mentioned five years ago has started to slip my mind.”Ms King praised the recent police work, but said remembering details from five years ago had formed a challenging part of the process.
She added: “It’s so frustrating for them – I can imagine they can look back at my previous statements. It’s unsettling for me because at the time it was fresh in my mind. If they had asked me then I could have expand on it, but they wouldn’t have thought to ask me then.”
Ms King said she hopes the new police appeal for information will end the anguish of not knowing felt by her family and friends.
“Five years on and we’re no closer or further away from knowing what has happened to her,” she said.
“It’s like paralysis; it’s like waiting to wake up from this situation that I never asked to be found in but we can’t shake ourselves out of it. It’s like waiting for the alarm to go off.
“We just have to get on with life. We all have to get on with work and get on with our lives, but when you’re sat in your chair at the end of the night you think; “where is she? How is she doing? Is she alive? Has someone got her? I try and think what the best possible situation would I want for her; do you want her to be alive so you can see her again, or do you want her to be looking down on you?”
Jen said Claudia, whose parents and older sister Ali lived in Darlington, and was brought up in Malton, had a wide circle of friends and she was constantly in touch with family and friends.
“When she wasn’t around people herself, she was texting or phoning people. She was never someone just to sit around on her own. She liked to be in touch with people. I supposed she was like all of us in our thirties; a fear of missing out on something.”
Jen said until there was some resolution, confirming exactly what happened to Claudia “nothing can close that void”.
“Until it’s resolved in some respects, whether by confirming she has passed on or whether it’s confirmed that they have found her and she’s still alive there will be nothing that can close that void.”

The Crimewatch appeal will be aired on BBC1 at 9pm on Wednesday (March 19).


http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/11080793._Nothing_can_close_that_void____Claudia_Lawrence_s_friend_describes_life_without_her_five_years_on/?ref=rss