Claudia Lawrence

**Claudia Elizabeth Lawrence** was a woman who vanished from York in 2009. Multiple people have been arrested on suspicion of Claudia’s murder but all have been released without charge.

## Background

Claudia was born in Malton, North Yorkshire on 27 February 1974. Her father, Peter Lawrence, was a solicitor and her mother, Joan Lawrence, was a member of member of Malton Town Council and had served a term as mayor of the town. She also had a sister, Ali, and attended private school as a child.

Claudia went on to attend catering college where she qualified as a chef. She began working at several restaurants around York but ended up looking for another job because she was not happy with the hours she was being given. In 2006, Claudia was hired to work as a canteen chef by the University of York’s Goodricke College. She was known to be a reliable and punctual employee and eventually moved into a terraced house in Heworth around three miles away. She would continue working at the University until her disappearance.

Prior to her disappearance, Claudia did not have a long-term partner but did experience multiple short-term relationships with men, some of whom were married. She kept this aspect of her life very private and even her parents where not aware of it. Unfortunately, this caused unspecified issues to occur between Claudia and some of the men’s’ partners.

Phone records suggest that Claudia may have been spending time in or around the Acomb area of York in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.

## Case

### Disappearance

Claudia was last seen on Wednesday, 18 March 2009 in York, England. That day she woke up at 6:00 a.m. and went to work at Goodricke College. She clocked out at 2:00 pm. and was captured on CCTV footage walking off campus a few minutes later. She was next caught on CCTV at around 3:00 p.m. walking past a shop in Melrosegate, not far from her residence. She was also seen by a neighbour at around the same time. Sometime later that evening she returned home as usual.

That night, Claudia called both her parents on her mobile phone. During the calls she was reportedly in a good mood and seemed to be relaxed. According to Claudia’s mother, the two spoke about what they would do to celebrate Mother’s Day. Claudia also mentioned to her mother that she planned on going to bed early because she knew she would have wake up for work at 5:00 a.m. This was because her car was broken and she was going to have to walk down to Goodricke College.

Claudia sent her last text at 8:23 p.m. and the last text her phone received was at 9:12 p.m. She never responded to this text, which was considered out of character. However, her phone was not actually turned off until 12:10 p.m. on March 19. The phone last connected to a mast in Heworth, York, indicating that it never left the area.

Police believe Claudia left for work that morning because her bed was made and there were dirty dishes in the kitchen sink indicating that she had eaten, although this can not be proven. There was also unspecified evidence to suggest that she had brushed her teeth that morning. Her hair straightener was missing, which was unusual, and it has not been found to this day. Her phone and a rucksack, which she typically carried her Chef’s uniform in, where also missing from her home.

Claudia did not arrive at work that morning and her colleagues became concerned when they attempted to call her mobile phone and it went straight to voicemail. Unfortunately, her manager did not continue trying to contact her after this point so it did not become apparent that she was missing until she failed to show up for a meeting with a friend at a local pub called the Nag’s head. Her friend tried to contact her and when she was still unable to locate her on 20 March she notified Claudia’s parents of the situation.

### Investigation

Claudia reported missing to the North Yorkshire Police at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, 20 March 2009. Later that day officers arrived at Claudia’s house to speak to her father. Initially, law enforcement where not overly concerned for Claudia’s welfare because she was not known to be a vulnerable person and there where no signs of a crime taking place. However, five weeks later her case was upgraded from a missing person’s inquiry to that of a suspected homicide.

In 2013 a Major Crimes Unit reviewed Claudia’s case in the hopes of finding new evidence using forensic techniques which would not have been available in 2009. This included conducting DNA testing on a cigarette that had been found in her car. They found that the cigarette had been handled by and unidentified male. They also uncovered multiple fingerprints in her car which had not been picked up on prior to this point.

CCTV has subsequently been released of an unidentified person of interest sighted on 18 March 2009 at 7:15pm, walking in the direction of the rear of Claudia's cottage. A minute later they return possibly with a bag over their shoulder and stop abruptly when someone walks past.

## Characteristics

* Long brown hair.
* Brown eyes.

## Clothing and accessories

* A GHD model 14.4.1B hair straightener.
* A cell phone.
* A rucksack.
* She may have had a Chef’s uniform in the rucksack.

## Media

* In 2013, Penguin Books published *Gone: The Disappearance of Claudia Lawrence and Her Father's Desperate Search for the Truth* by Neil Root.

## Sources

* Claudia Lawrence on Wikipedia
* Claudia Lawrence at the *Doe Network*
* *The Guardian*
	+ Article #1 19/03/2015
* The Disappearance of Claudia Lawrence