Claudia Lawrence

Disclaimer: this article contains details which may be upsetting for some readers. Discretion is advised.

Who was Claudia Lawrence?

As a teenager, she enjoyed working at the stables and had no qualms about helping to muck out. Both sisters were privately educated, with Claudia reportedly growing up surrounded by a large number of friends. After finishing her education at York College for Girls, she went on to train at catering college with aspirations of being a chef. This dream would be realised when she secured work in a number of hotels and restaurants during her twenties, eventually landing a job in 2006 on the University of York's Heslington campus as a chef in Goodricke College. She was known to be a reliable and much-loved employee, always turning up to work on time and volunteering for Christmas shifts so that her colleagues could spend time with their children.

The stability of her role with the University of York and her slight discomfort at driving the 16 miles from Malton to York on the winter nights prompted her to buy her first property in the city in 2007. She purchased a terraced two-bedroom cottage on Heworth Road, just a three mile journey from Goodricke College. The area was almost a small community in the wider expanse of the city - the road was home to its own post office, church, and a shop, as well as a school and a pub called the Nag's Head. The pub would prove to be a hit with Claudia - it was just a few doors down from her home and became her local haunt. She became friends with barmaid Jen King, and would meet her and close friend Suzy Cooper there for drinks several times a week. Jen even lived with Claudia for a short period of time before moving in with a partner. 

Claudia enjoyed socialising with friends, and was regularly texting and calling Jen and Suzy in between their evenings at the pub. They would talk about life and put the world to rights, catching up on each others days. 

Although Claudia had a few short-term relationships, no long-term partner appeared in her life and she seemed content with the laid-back routine of her daily life. She enjoyed a few sunny holidays abroad, with a particular affection for Cyprus which she had visited a number of times. 

It was her absence from a pre-arranged meeting in the Nag's Head pub which would initially alert her friend Suzy Cooper that something was wrong with her reliable friend.

The Disappearance

That evening, Claudia had made arrangements with Suzy to meet at the Nag's Head pub for one of their usual mid-week catch ups, and Suzy arrived at the agreed time. She waited for her friend, but Claudia didn't turn up. Suzy attempted to contact her but her calls went straight to voicemail. Sending her a jokey message about being stood up, Suzy assumed that Claudia had perhaps fallen asleep and let her phone run out of battery and headed home. 

Suzy didn't stop thinking about the situation, though. Her friend usually had her phone on her at all times, and was a reliable person. On the morning of Friday 20th, she tried again to call Claudia's mobile but it continued to go to voicemail. Now worried about her friend's welfare, Suzy called some of their mutual acquaintances to see if anyone had heard from her. With no positive information from any of their friends, Suzy contacted Peter Lawrence and explained that Claudia hadn't turned up for their evening together the night before and couldn't be reached on the phone. 

Her mother, Joan Lawrence, and sister Ali were made aware of Claudia's disappearance at around 6pm on Friday 20th March. Joan was frustrated at the length of time it had taken to inform her of her youngest child's absence, and questioned why no-one had contacted her earlier - she reported that she didn't even receive a call asking if Claudia was with her. On top of this, Joan noted that her former husband had given a photo to the police of Claudia with blonde hair, which was outdated. Claudia had dyed her hair dark in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, meaning that any potential witnesses may disregard sightings of her if they thought the police were looking for a blonde woman. 

After the police appeal went out to the public, a couple of credible sightings were called in. A cyclist reported that he had ridden past a woman, who looked similar to Claudia, and a man on Melrosegate Bridge at around 5:35am on 19th March. A further report was made of a potential sighting 30 minutes after the first, where a commuter spotted a man arguing with a woman outside of a University of York campus. The man was described as approximately 5ft 6in tall and wearing a dark hoodie. 

It's worth mentioning here that there are multiple options available if one is looking to choose a walking route between Heworth Road, where Claudia lived, and Goodricke College, where she worked. Although she had been captured on CCTV on 18th March walking home via Melrosegate, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that she may have chosen a different route the following morning. In the examples shown above, the left-hand map shows a direct route from Heworth Road down Melrosegate and onto University Road, then heading east to the University of York site. In the image on the right, the map shows a route turning from Melrosegate onto Hull Road and approaching the University of York from a different angle. The central image gives still more options, the shortest calculated route being 2.2miles. If Claudia had chosen to walk via Melrosegate and University Road, the total journey distance would have been 2.7 miles - half a mile more than an alternative route. 

This isn't to say that we're trying to assess which was the most likely route that Claudia would have walked to work. Her family and friends knew her daily routine, and the police likely have much more information relating to the most probable route. Had Claudia walked to work on the morning of 19th March, she would have left home at around 5am and would have been travelling alone, most likely choosing busy and populated routes for safety. It's not beyond the realm of possibility, however, that something may have caused her to take a diversion down a different street.

The Initial Investigation

Claudia's case being recategorised as a suspected murder meant that the investigation ramped up to a new level, something which her family and friends had been hoping for since she disappeared. 

Although her phone hadn't been recovered, the police were able to obtain some of the information from the network provider. They ascertained that her mobile had been manually and deliberately turned off at around 12:10pm on 19th March - just after midday - and that it had been within the region of her home up until that point, using a phone mast in the Heworth area. It's unclear exactly what this means, as the last message received by her phone was reportedly at 9:12pm on 18th March. Any messages or telephone calls made to or from a mobile phone are connected using the mast tower nearest to the device. Unless the phone was GPS enabled and police were able to confirm that her phone was in the area at that time, does this mean that the phone was receiving or sending other communication during the morning of the 19th and was using the Heworth mast tower to do so? 

Whatever it means, the police confirmed that Claudia's phone was turned off deliberately at just after midday on the 19th. This indicates that either Claudia herself, or an unknown second person, had access to the phone at the time. It begs the question, if Claudia's manager had tried to contact her when she failed to turn up to work, who would have answered her phone when it rang? Not only that - if her family had been made aware that she hadn't arrived for her shift at the college and had gone to check her property, what would they have found? 

The Crimewatch program was also the origin of a comment which would start the rumour mill rolling, and would give her already distressed family cause for more upset. Presenter Kirsty Young pressed the detective on the reason for Claudia's disappearance, asking about '"areas of Claudia's life that are difficult to say the least and definitely complex."' If anyone was in any doubt, or confused about what Kirsty was referring to, it was cleared up when Detective Superintendent Galloway replied: '"as the investigation has developed it's become apparent that some of Claudia's relationships had an element of complexity and mystery to them. I'm certain that some of those relationships were not known to her family or friends."'

As a result of this comment, newspapers and the media exploded with speculation about Claudia's private life and romantic relationships, with articles in the papers suggesting that she may have been involved with married men and perhaps been found out by a vindictive spouse. The fallout from the Crimewatch program was extensive and had an impact on her family, especially causing Claudia's mum, Joan, to lose further faith in the authorities who were meant to be searching for her daughter. 

The Daily Mail speculates over the identity of the man in question, and provides a couple of names when discussing those Claudia was rumoured to have had relationships with, but I'm not going to mention them here. The men in question have presumably been thoroughly investigated by police during the course of the case - if they haven't been arrested and police have deemed that they aren't implicated in any way, it would be unfair to drag their names up in an article and draw attention back to them when they are trying to get on with their lives. 

Police were more than thorough in their search through Claudia's relationship history, looking at every man she had dated in the 20 years prior to her disappearance. One of these men had reportedly started seeing Claudia when she was 18-years-old and living in Malton - he was older than her, and lived with a long-term partner and young daughter. They had remained friends after the relationship ended, something which was not uncommon for Claudia - she seemed to remain on good terms with a number of the men she had been involved with, including a former boyfriend she had dated for 18 months from 2005.

Jenny King, one of the friends with whom Claudia socialised regularly, spoke out about the two images which had been portrayed of Claudia in the media - one of a woman who was happy with her job and wide circle of friends, and one who was implicated as something of a home-wrecker. Jenny said: '"Claudia and I would go into town every couple of weeks and have a few drinks, but that was all. She's not promiscuous. She'd be too ashamed. She's just not like that."' 

No amount of defence from her family and friends stopped the rumour mill from turning once it had started, though. Despite comments from Claudia's loved ones and those who spent a lot of time with her, speculation amongst the locals was extensive and eventually turned to suggestions that Claudia perhaps supplemented her income and mortgage payments with a secondary role as an escort. Police attempted to quash these rumours, with Detective Superintendent Ray Galloway saying: '"she was not outgoing until you got to know her. Once you got to know her she became more confident. But someone involved in an escort agency would need to be quite outgoing, confident and able to deal with a sexual relationship in a functional way."' He was quick to say that there way no evidence that Claudia managed her home and mortgage with anything other than frugal living and good budgeting, and not with an additional income. 

Focus continued on the number of relationships Claudia was suggested to have had with married men. The landlord of the Nag's Head and close friend of Claudia's, George Forman, told the press that he knew of at least two affairs which Claudia had been involved with after meeting men in the pub. He said that two men who had been involved with her had told police about their relationships immediately after she'd gone missing, probably in a bid to make sure that they were honest from the outset and not seen as a person of interest. Others had never told their spouses about their extra-marital involvement and careful consideration would be required by authorities on how to approach them for interview. 

Claudia's sister, Ali, provided something of an explanation as to why friends and family may know little of her sister's relationships. She told the press: '"I'm someone who's settled, with a young family, and that's what I wanted for her, but Claudia always seemed to pick people with issues. I remember once she was supposed to be going on holiday to Florida with a boyfriend and when they got to the airport he wasn't allowed to get on the plane, as it turned out he'd been charged with grievous bodily harm at some point. She didn't know anything about it. I thought, oh, no, not again. Over time, she stopped talking to the family about that side of her life because she thought we'd shoot her down. Her friends thought she'd told them everything, but when something like this happens it makes you wonder. Somebody must know something. People don't just vanish into thin air."'

I think it's important to mention here that rumours are very quick to circulate and turn a situation into something which may be a considerable distance from the truth. Whilst there are some firm reports that Claudia had been in relationships with married men at some stage, it doesn't seem to be the case that she went out looking for them - she also had relationships with men who had no marital ties. Without knowing the intricate details of her life, it's impossible to say whether she made a deliberate decision to date a married man - or, indeed, whether she knew that they were married at all. From reviewing some of the articles printed at the time, it's easy to see why Claudia's family and friends were so devastated by the way she was portrayed in the months after she vanished. It certainly seemed to push more of a wedge in the relationship between the Lawrence family and police, as their views on Claudia's private life greatly differed. The judgement which crept through the public and the differences of opinion which circulated seemed to take some of the focus away from the fact that a 35-year-old had gone missing and was yet to be traced. Sympathy started to slowly eek away and interest in the case dwindled. 

Ultimately, all of us have a private life. All of us. There will be things that wives don't tell husbands, that husbands don't tell wives, that people don't tell their siblings or parents, that people keep from their best friends. We are all entitled to our secrets, and we are all entitled to be the non-perfect human beings that we all are. We make mistakes. We make poor decisions. We learn and move on.

The problem arises when someone is thrust into the spotlight, and the case of Claudia Lawrence is the worst kind of example. In the course of trying to find out what happened to a much-loved woman, her secrets have been laid bare for the world to examine and pass judgement on. We mustn't lose focus on the fact that, no matter what someone has done during their life, they don't deserve something like this to happen to them. Her family don't deserve to live without answers.

Peter Lawrence used the mark of 100 days since Claudia disappeared to publish an appeal on YouTube asking for information from the public. The family also joined North Yorkshire Police at the annual Whitby Regatta in August 2009 to raise awareness about the case and encourage people to come forward with information. Joan Lawrence took to carrying printed copies of missing posters in her handbag, passing them out to anyone who would take them - from taxi drivers to strangers in the street - in a bid to spread the word about her daughter. She worked in conjunction with the charity Missing People to publicise the case. This poster displayed an image of Claudia with dark hair, instead of the blonde-haired image issued by the police immediately after she vanished. 

By the time September 2009 rolled around, police confirmed that they had extended the search to Cyprus, a country which Claudia had visited several times. The last message sent to her phone, which was received at 9:12pm on 18th March, was from a male friend in Cyprus who police hoped to speak to. Although North Yorkshire Police sent a team of detectives to interview people on the island, they were reportedly met with a lack of engagement and made no progress in the investigation. The male who had sent a message to Claudia was confirmed to be in Cyprus at the time she disappeared and was in no way implicated in the case. 

Despite the pressure that North Yorkshire Police were under from the family, press and public to find Claudia, they had no option other than to reduce the number of officers assigned to the case in July 2010. The limited information which was being submitted to them and the lack of leads in the case meant that police had little to work on, and it would have become difficult to justify the number of staff involved when demands for officers were high in other areas. This didn't mean that the investigation ceased, however, but it certainly seemed an acknowledgement that it was drifting into the realms of becoming a cold case.

Detective Superintendent Galloway stood by his consideration that the key to Claudia's disappearance lay somewhere in the details of her lifestyle, particularly within her relationships with men. A journalist with Sky News reported on this, stating: '"Claudia apparently lived a significant part of her life in secret. For a privately educated daughter of a country solicitor, Claudia had some unusual acquaintances and this remains the only missing person case where I have been warned off or threatened - not once but twice."' 

Major Crime Unit Investigation

Joan Lawrence spoke to the media in 2013, describing how she had made a number of suggestions to police which may help them progress the investigation. She felt that she wasn't listened to by detectives, saying: '"if it wasn't actually connected to old boyfriends they didn't want to know. I was banging my head against a brick wall because I wanted answers. I asked about people staying in nearby B&Bs, businessmen, travellers. Claudia used to say that people who stayed in the B&Bs would come into the pub at night. I asked if anyone questioned the landlord to see if any strangers had been in - but they just looked at me as if I was stupid. I felt like I was being treated as though I had no intelligence."' Joan was in regular contact with the charity Missing People, as well as the parents of other missing children including Kate McCann, the mother of missing Madeline McCann.

Arrests

In July 2014, the landlord of the Acomb Pub (which has since been renamed 'the Clockhouse Pub') was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. He, too, was released without charge, although he later reported that police had excavated an area of the pub's cellar as part of their investigation - something which probably cost a reasonable sum to restore. He told the press that Claudia had been a customer in the Acomb Pub in the weeks leading up to her disappearance, and he had interacted with her briefly in the form of casual conversation but did not know her outside of the premises. 

In 2016, four men were collectively arrested on suspicion of murder at one stage but all released without charge. One of these men later broke his silence and spoke to the Answers For Claudia podcast, saying: '"I had nothing to do with her disappearance. I was close to Claudia and miss her a great deal."' He had known Claudia's father for nearly 20 years, and was a regular drinking partner of Claudia's in the Nag's Head. 

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