MISSING: Claudia Lawrence part 2

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Kind: captions
Language: en
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This is part two of a two-part episode.
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Make sure that you've listened to part
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one of the Claudia Lawrence story before
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starting this episode.
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In June 2013,
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North Yorkshire Police announced that
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they would be opening a new major crime
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unit which would start operating in
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October of that year.
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Its function would be to investigate
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serious crimes and to review and reopen
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cold cases.
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The MCU team started operating by
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reviewing the information in the Claudia
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Lawrence case, trolling through pages
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and pages of documentation and
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completing further forensic testing in
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Claudia's property, which is still owned
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by the Lawrence family to this day.
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Technology and forensic testing have
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advanced in the years since Claudia had
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disappeared, meaning that evidence which
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may have previously revealed little
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information could potentially be tested
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again to see if anything further could
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be garnered from individual items.
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With this in mind, the team led by
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Detective Day Mail reassessed the data
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collected by Claudia's mobile phone.
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They obtained data which showed that
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Claudia had spent a significant amount
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of time in the Akam area of York in the
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weeks leading up to the 19th of March
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2009, giving officers a potential new
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line of inquiry.
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Police also undertook a fresh
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investigation of Claudia's car, the
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Voxal Corser, which had been having work
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completed by a mechanic, and were able
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to find a cigarette butt from a
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left-handed smoker.
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Claudia didn't smoke, but did allow her
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passengers to smoke in the vehicle. And
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with this information in mind, police
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arranged forensic examination of the
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item, finding fingerprints and a male
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DNA profile.
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Police later said, quote, "All those
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known to have been in contact with the
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car assisted the inquiry and are
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eliminated on the basis of DNA
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recovery." End quote.
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Joan Lawrence spoke to the media in
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2013,
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describing how she had made a number of
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suggestions to police which may help
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them progress the investigation.
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She felt that she wasn't listened to by
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detectives, saying, quote, "If it wasn't
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actually connected to old boyfriends,
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they didn't want to know. I was banging
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my head against a brick wall because I
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wanted answers. I asked about people
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staying in nearby BNBs, businessmen,
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travelers." Claudia used to say that the
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people who stayed in the B&Bs would come
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into the pub at night. I asked if anyone
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questioned the landlord to see if any
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strangers had been in, but they just
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looked at me as if I was stupid. I felt
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like I was being treated as though I had
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no intelligence." End quote.
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Joan was in regular contact with the
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charity Missing People for support
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throughout the process, as well as the
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parents of other missing children,
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including Kate McCann, the mother of
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missing Meline.
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On the 19th of March 2014, the fifth
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anniversary of Claudia's disappearance,
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Crime Watched a fresh appeal for
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information.
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They showed CCTV footage from 5:42 a.m.
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on the 19th of March, 2009 of a Ford
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Focus driving along Hu Road, which
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appeared to break as it drew level with
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Claudia's property.
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Although the registration wasn't
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released, perhaps because it couldn't be
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obtained from the quality of the camera
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footage, it was estimated that the
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vehicle was the first generation Ford
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Focus, a model which was manufactured
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between 1998 and 2004 and sold within
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Europe until 2005.
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Police were keen to speak to the driver
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and appealed for them to come forward.
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No one has been reported to have
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approached police following this appeal.
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The public was stunned when on 13th of
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May 2014, police announced that they had
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made an arrest in relation to the
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disappearance and suspected murder of
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Claudia Lawrence. The 59-year-old male
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who was detained had been one of her
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colleagues at the University of York and
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was someone that she had been on good
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terms with and had sometimes given her
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lifts to and from the campus, indicating
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that he likely worked a similar shift
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pattern.
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He was arrested on suspicion of murder
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and both his own property and the
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property of his mother in North Shields
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Tinesside over 100 miles away were
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searched by officers and forensic teams.
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The man was released on police bail the
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day after his arrest and was discharged
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from bail conditions in November 2014.
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In July 2014, the landlord of the Akam
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Pub, which has since been renamed the
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Clockhouse Pub, was arrested on
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suspicion of perverting the course of
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justice. He too was released without
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charge, although he later reported that
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police had excavated an area of the pub
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cellar as part of their investigation,
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something which probably cost a
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reasonable sum to restore.
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He told the press that Claudia had been
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a customer in the Akam pub in the weeks
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leading up to her disappearance and he
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had interacted with her in the form of
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casual conversation but did not know her
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outside of the premises.
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Police released CCTV footage of an Astra
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van, a white Vauxhall Astra with two
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front seats and an extended rear section
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to serve as a van, which had been seen
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parked near Claudia's property at 9:01
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p.m. on the 18th of March, 2009.
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This would have been the night that she
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spoke to each of her parents and the
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last night when communication was made
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from her mobile phone. The van is
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captured on a police vehicle camera at
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21101
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and is parked on the pavement outside
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the fish and ship shop at the end of
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Huorth Road next to the Costa
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convenience store.
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The distance of the vehicle from
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Claudia's property is enough to ask
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whether it could have any relevance to
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the case at all, as there was plenty of
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space to park on the road directly
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outside her home if the driver was
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visiting her. Unless, of course, they
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were trying to be discreet and not be
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noticed.
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Police made the decision in 2015 to
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release video footage of the man seen
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lingering in the alleyway behind
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Claudia's home at around 7:15 p.m. on
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the 18th of March, 2009.
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The man in the footage headed down the
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alleyway behind Claudia's house and
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returned just over a minute later.
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Stills from the CCTV footage were
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printed in the Daily Mail with the
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second image clearly showing the man
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carrying a bag on his back or over his
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left shoulder.
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From the first image, it's not entirely
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clear whether he had this bag when he
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headed into the alleyway, but from the
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shape of the silhouette, it's certainly
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possible. I've replayed the footage on
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the YouTube video and personally think
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that this bag is present when he heads
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down the alleyway due to the slight
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curve of the person's back. But I'd be
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keen to know what you think. I think
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it's also worth noting that in the
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active footage, the person pauses just
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shy of the street lamp and waits for a
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brief moment before moving on. This
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could of course be completely innocent
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and it's impossible to tell what the
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person was doing from the CCTV quality.
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What's thought to be the same person was
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captured heading down the alleyway again
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at 5:07 a.m. on the 19th of March, the
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morning that Claudia was thought to have
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gone missing. This time, the figure
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returns a mere 49 seconds later.
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Although the person in this footage is
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generally thought to be a man, it's
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nearly impossible to tell from the
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quality of the footage and the distance
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the camera is from the person. In both
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clips, the person appears from the
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direction of Claudia's property and
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turns into the side street before
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vanishing down the alleyway, then
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reappears and turns back in the
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direction they came from, back in the
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direction which would pass Claudia's
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front door. Is it possible that this
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person had any involvement in Claudia's
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case when they spent such a short length
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of time in the alleyway? If not, why
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haven't they come forward to clear their
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name? There could be a completely
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legitimate and innocent explanation as
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to why that person was in the area at
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those times. Why wouldn't they approach
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police if they had the ability to rule
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this footage out as having any relevance
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to the case? Does the person have
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something to hide or have they simply
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been oblivious to the police appeals?
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It's very easy to speculate on what this
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person was doing. They could have been
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lost and taken a wrong turn. They could
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have been looking for someone's house.
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They could have been staking out
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properties with the intention to commit
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burglary. Or they could have been trying
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to get through Claudia's gateway into
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the garden of her property. Although
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from looking at aerial images in of the
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back of Claudia's home, it's unclear if
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there even is a gate at the rear of her
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garden.
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The possibilities are extensive, and we
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have no way of knowing. The public have
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also only been provided with images from
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one CCTV camera, and it's highly
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possible that the police have more
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information about the actions of this
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person, which they're not releasing.
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In 2016. Four men were collectively
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arrested on the suspicion of murder.
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Each of them had been a regular customer
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at the Nags Head Pub and strenuously
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denied any involvement in Claudia's
00:10:49.760 --> 00:10:51.590
disappearance.
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Although the police submitted a file to
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charge the men, the Crown Prosecution
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Service didn't feel that there was
00:10:57.760 --> 00:11:00.389
enough information to continue, and the
00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:02.389
men were subsequently released without
00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:04.069
charge.
00:11:04.079 --> 00:11:06.790
One of these men later broke her silence
00:11:06.800 --> 00:11:08.870
and spoke to the Answers for Claudia
00:11:08.880 --> 00:11:11.670
podcast, saying, quote, "I had nothing
00:11:11.680 --> 00:11:14.069
to do with her disappearance. I was
00:11:14.079 --> 00:11:16.150
close to Claudia and miss her a great
00:11:16.160 --> 00:11:19.350
deal." End quote. As well as being
00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:21.590
someone with whom Claudia socialized and
00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:23.829
drank with at the pub, the male in
00:11:23.839 --> 00:11:25.990
question had also known her father for
00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.590
over 20 years.
00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:33.509
In 2017, a former detective in Wiltshire
00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:35.750
released a book about a culprit who had
00:11:35.760 --> 00:11:39.269
taken many years to put behind bars. The
00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:42.310
book titled Catching a Serial Killer: My
00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:45.030
Hunt for Murderer Christopher Hiell was
00:11:45.040 --> 00:11:47.750
written by Steven Fulture, the former
00:11:47.760 --> 00:11:50.150
senior investigating officer who had put
00:11:50.160 --> 00:11:53.110
the taxi driver behind bars, albeit
00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.110
subsequently leaving the police force
00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:57.509
under something of a cloud.
00:11:57.519 --> 00:11:59.990
It was Steven Fulture who first made the
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:01.670
comparison between the victims of
00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:03.509
Christopher Halwell and the
00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:05.750
disappearance of Claudia Lawrence,
00:12:05.760 --> 00:12:07.829
sparking some debate over whether the
00:12:07.839 --> 00:12:09.670
murderer could be involved in the case
00:12:09.680 --> 00:12:13.509
of the missing North Yorkshire woman.
00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:15.190
Christopher Haliwell came to the
00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:16.949
attention of police after the
00:12:16.959 --> 00:12:19.350
disappearance of 22-year-old Shauno
00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:21.829
Callahan on her way home from a night
00:12:21.839 --> 00:12:24.550
out in Swindon in the early hours of the
00:12:24.560 --> 00:12:27.910
19th of March 2011.
00:12:27.920 --> 00:12:31.350
After leaving the Suju nightclub, CCTV
00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:33.430
captured her during the halfmile walk
00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:37.670
home at 2:52 a.m.
00:12:37.680 --> 00:12:39.750
Her boyfriend, with whom she shared a
00:12:39.760 --> 00:12:42.550
flat, reported her missing to police at
00:12:42.560 --> 00:12:45.910
9:45 that morning after she still hadn't
00:12:45.920 --> 00:12:48.150
arrived home and wasn't answering her
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phone.
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Investigation into Shaun's phone records
00:12:52.560 --> 00:12:54.710
found that a message sent to her by her
00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:58.470
boyfriend at 3:24 a.m. had hit a mass
00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:01.590
tower more than 12 mi away in Savanaki
00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.470
Forest, an area which the police quickly
00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.030
started searching.
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Police knew that Sha must have traveled
00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:11.829
to the area in a vehicle based on the
00:13:11.839 --> 00:13:13.990
short time which had elapsed between her
00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:18.550
being captured on CCTV at 2:52 a.m. and
00:13:18.560 --> 00:13:20.790
her phone signal hitting the mass tower
00:13:20.800 --> 00:13:25.030
at 3:24 a.m. Detective Superintendent
00:13:25.040 --> 00:13:28.150
Steven Fulture led the investigation and
00:13:28.160 --> 00:13:30.629
his team appealed for information on the
00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:34.069
24th of March relating to a green Toyota
00:13:34.079 --> 00:13:37.350
Avenis with a taxi badge after reports
00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:39.350
that it had been seen in the area of
00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:42.230
Savanaki Forest around the time that Sha
00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:44.150
disappeared.
00:13:44.160 --> 00:13:46.710
That same day, Christopher Hwell was
00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:48.870
arrested in the car park of Asda in
00:13:48.880 --> 00:13:51.750
Swindon with police impounding his green
00:13:51.760 --> 00:13:55.430
Toyota Aventus for forensic examination.
00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:57.430
Sha's body was found later that
00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:00.310
afternoon.
00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.470
Despite originally pleading not guilty
00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:06.790
to Sha's murder on the 31st of May 2012,
00:14:06.800 --> 00:14:08.710
he ultimately changed his plea at
00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.030
Bristol Crown Court on the 19th of
00:14:11.040 --> 00:14:13.430
October that same year.
00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:15.750
The only sentence available for such a
00:14:15.760 --> 00:14:18.790
crime in the UK is life imprisonment
00:14:18.800 --> 00:14:21.269
with Halwell being given a minimum term
00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:24.389
of 25 years.
00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:26.310
Although the information couldn't be
00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:28.870
released until after Halwell's trial,
00:14:28.880 --> 00:14:30.870
which didn't progress due to the change
00:14:30.880 --> 00:14:33.670
in his plea, it transpired in the wake
00:14:33.680 --> 00:14:35.990
of his sentencing that a second murder
00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:37.990
charge had been started shortly after
00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:40.949
his arrest for the murder of Sha.
00:14:40.959 --> 00:14:43.269
When Hwell was picked up in the car park
00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:46.069
of Asda, his intended destination had
00:14:46.079 --> 00:14:48.230
been Gable Cross Police Station to be
00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:50.310
held and questioned.
00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:52.870
This plan changed, however, when he was
00:14:52.880 --> 00:14:55.829
diverted on route to Barbar Castle,
00:14:55.839 --> 00:14:57.750
where he was met and questioned by
00:14:57.760 --> 00:15:00.629
Steven Fulture.
00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:02.790
In addition to providing information
00:15:02.800 --> 00:15:05.670
about where Sha's body could be located,
00:15:05.680 --> 00:15:08.069
Halwell also told the officer where they
00:15:08.079 --> 00:15:11.030
could find another victim.
00:15:11.040 --> 00:15:13.829
The remains of 20-year-old Becky Goden
00:15:13.839 --> 00:15:16.389
Edwards, who had gone missing sometime
00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:19.030
after a night out on the 3rd of January,
00:15:19.040 --> 00:15:22.230
2003, were uncovered on the 26th of
00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:25.350
March, 2 days after Halwell's arrest and
00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:28.230
the discovery of Sha's body.
00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.030
The problem was in his desperation to
00:15:31.040 --> 00:15:33.430
obtain information from Halwell about
00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.389
the two women, detective superintendent
00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:39.269
Steven Fulture failed to caution the man
00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:41.350
and therefore denied him the legal right
00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:43.910
to a solicitor whilst being questioned,
00:15:43.920 --> 00:15:46.069
a clear and significant breach of the
00:15:46.079 --> 00:15:50.310
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:52.870
Hiell's confession in relation to both
00:15:52.880 --> 00:15:55.269
crimes given in the back of the police
00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:58.230
car became inadmissible as evidence and
00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:01.509
was thrown out by a court judge. Without
00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.910
this, the police had nothing to go on in
00:16:03.920 --> 00:16:06.389
Becky's case except the discovery of
00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:08.790
some of her remains.
00:16:08.800 --> 00:16:10.710
Although they had other evidence in the
00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:12.710
case of Shauno Callahan which had led
00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:15.350
them to Halwell, Becky's case was much
00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:17.509
more complex and they now had to
00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.990
assemble a case to charge Halwell from
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:22.470
scratch.
00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:24.790
A formal investigation into the actions
00:16:24.800 --> 00:16:27.509
of Steven Fulture was undertaken where
00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.829
he was found to have ignored orders and
00:16:29.839 --> 00:16:33.110
deemed guilty of gross misconduct. He
00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:36.710
resigned from the force in 2014.
00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:39.430
Further investigation by the force found
00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:40.629
that there had been multiple
00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:43.430
opportunities to identify Halwell in the
00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:45.670
years following Becky's disappearance in
00:16:45.680 --> 00:16:49.590
2003, but these were not actioned. It
00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:51.990
begs the question, if police had traced
00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.110
and arrested Hwell earlier, would Sha
00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:57.910
still be alive?
00:16:57.920 --> 00:17:00.230
It took five more years for police to
00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:02.150
compile enough evidence without
00:17:02.160 --> 00:17:04.630
Halwell's confession to charge him with
00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.750
the murder of Becky Goden Edwards. In
00:17:07.760 --> 00:17:11.189
September 2016, he was found guilty and
00:17:11.199 --> 00:17:13.590
sentenced to a whole life tariff,
00:17:13.600 --> 00:17:16.630
something rarely handed down in the UK,
00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:18.309
meaning that he will never have the
00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:20.710
opportunity for parole or to see the
00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.909
outside of prison walls.
00:17:23.919 --> 00:17:26.630
Examination of Sha's body found no
00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:29.270
evidence of sexual assault, and she was
00:17:29.280 --> 00:17:32.310
deemed to have died from head injuries.
00:17:32.320 --> 00:17:33.830
Becky was thought to have been
00:17:33.840 --> 00:17:36.150
strangled, but not all of her body parts
00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:38.710
were found, and her remains would likely
00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.190
have been too decomposed to ascertain if
00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.150
sexual assault had taken place.
00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.789
In a disturbing turn of events, when
00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:50.070
Halwell was eventually arrested in 2015
00:17:50.080 --> 00:17:53.190
for Becky's murder, he reportedly agreed
00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:55.190
to accept responsibility on the
00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.350
provision that police did not ask him
00:17:57.360 --> 00:17:59.909
about any other crimes.
00:17:59.919 --> 00:18:02.070
Why would he make this statement if he
00:18:02.080 --> 00:18:05.669
didn't have something else to hide?
00:18:05.679 --> 00:18:07.909
One of the biggest questions must surely
00:18:07.919 --> 00:18:10.150
be that if the motive for the killings
00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:12.470
of Shauno Callahan and Becky Gordon
00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:16.070
Edwards wasn't sexual, then what was it?
00:18:16.080 --> 00:18:18.870
What motivated a Swindon taxi driver to
00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:21.430
pick women up off the street, take them
00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:24.710
to a secluded area, and murder them?
00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.110
Christopher Haler was later found to be
00:18:27.120 --> 00:18:29.270
responsible for the disposal of more
00:18:29.280 --> 00:18:32.470
than 60 items of women's clothing in a
00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.549
pond in Ramsbury which had been
00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:37.830
discovered gradually over the years.
00:18:37.840 --> 00:18:40.150
The pond would later be described as a
00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.950
trophy store, but failings by Wilshire
00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:44.870
Police meant that the discovery of these
00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.430
items was not taken seriously on the
00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:49.029
occasions when they were found by
00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:51.750
members of the public, and by the time
00:18:51.760 --> 00:18:54.070
consideration was given to forensically
00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:56.549
testing the clothes, they had degraded
00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:58.310
to the point that they had lost any
00:18:58.320 --> 00:19:01.669
forensic potential.
00:19:01.679 --> 00:19:03.909
The comment made by Christopher Halwell
00:19:03.919 --> 00:19:06.150
at the point of his second arrest, the
00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:08.870
collection of trophy items and the lack
00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.029
of clear motive in the murders of Sha
00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:13.830
and Becky gave Wiltshire police serious
00:19:13.840 --> 00:19:16.150
cause for concern that the man had many
00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:17.990
more victims.
00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:20.310
To this day, they are continuing to look
00:19:20.320 --> 00:19:22.630
at nearly 30 cases which may be
00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.669
connected to the taxi driver.
00:19:25.679 --> 00:19:27.830
And this is where Claudia's case comes
00:19:27.840 --> 00:19:30.950
in. Even though Steven Fulture was
00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.110
removed from the case and resigned from
00:19:33.120 --> 00:19:35.590
the force, he still had intimate
00:19:35.600 --> 00:19:37.830
knowledge of the cases for which Halwell
00:19:37.840 --> 00:19:40.230
had been convicted. So the former
00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:42.549
detective, drawing similarities to the
00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:45.270
Claudia Lawrence case, held some weight
00:19:45.280 --> 00:19:47.350
and gave North Yorkshire police course
00:19:47.360 --> 00:19:49.750
for consideration.
00:19:49.760 --> 00:19:52.390
The date of the 19th of March, the date
00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:54.630
when Sha was abducted and the date when
00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:57.350
Claudia went missing, was reported to
00:19:57.360 --> 00:19:59.830
have held some significance for Halwell.
00:19:59.840 --> 00:20:02.789
Although it's unclear what this is, he
00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:04.950
had links to Yorkshire as his father
00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.750
lived there. The manner of Claudia's
00:20:07.760 --> 00:20:10.150
disappearance was strikingly similar to
00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:11.750
the way that Sha seemed to have
00:20:11.760 --> 00:20:13.270
vanished.
00:20:13.280 --> 00:20:15.110
There was enough circumstantial
00:20:15.120 --> 00:20:17.350
information for police to at least take
00:20:17.360 --> 00:20:19.750
an interest.
00:20:19.760 --> 00:20:21.990
The links were found at best to be
00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:23.510
tenuous.
00:20:23.520 --> 00:20:25.510
Although his father lived in Yorkshire,
00:20:25.520 --> 00:20:27.590
he had lived in Huddersfield, a good
00:20:27.600 --> 00:20:29.830
distance from York, and had died
00:20:29.840 --> 00:20:33.110
sometime prior to 2009.
00:20:33.120 --> 00:20:35.430
Hiell lived and worked in Swindon when
00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.669
Claudia disappeared, and Wiltshire
00:20:37.679 --> 00:20:40.549
police uncovered CCTV footage of him
00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.950
filling his car up at a fuel station on
00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:46.310
the night of the 18th of March.
00:20:46.320 --> 00:20:48.470
It's highly unlikely, but not
00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:50.710
impossible, that he would have driven
00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.110
the four or 5 hours from Swindon to
00:20:53.120 --> 00:20:56.470
York, abduct an unsuspecting woman,
00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:58.630
dispose of her body somewhere he could
00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:01.029
be certain that she wouldn't be found,
00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.950
especially if he wasn't familiar with
00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:07.110
the area, and then drive home again.
00:21:07.120 --> 00:21:09.270
On the other hand, perhaps that would
00:21:09.280 --> 00:21:12.070
make it more of a perfect crime, driving
00:21:12.080 --> 00:21:14.870
to an area he had no connection to,
00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:16.950
snatching a lone woman off the side of
00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.510
the road, then disposing of her body
00:21:19.520 --> 00:21:22.070
somewhere on the journey home. It would
00:21:22.080 --> 00:21:24.870
be brazen and incredibly risky, but
00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:27.909
stranger things have happened.
00:21:27.919 --> 00:21:31.029
Senior investigating officer Wayne Fox
00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:33.190
released a statement to calm the rumors
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:35.430
amongst the media and public regarding
00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:38.630
Halwell, saying, quote, "We have pursued
00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:40.789
lines of inquiry which are focused on
00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:42.789
any link he may have had to the North
00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:45.669
Yorkshire area and in particular the
00:21:45.679 --> 00:21:47.590
movements of Christopher Halwell during
00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:49.750
the material times in which we believe
00:21:49.760 --> 00:21:52.950
Claudia came to harm. The results of
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:55.029
those inquiries, which include
00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:57.669
examinations of digital devices and the
00:21:57.679 --> 00:22:00.070
interviewing of several witnesses,
00:22:00.080 --> 00:22:02.310
indicated that Halwell continued to
00:22:02.320 --> 00:22:04.789
operate as a taxi driver in the Swindon
00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:06.390
area within the relevant time
00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:08.070
parameters.
00:22:08.080 --> 00:22:10.310
Both investigation teams reached a
00:22:10.320 --> 00:22:12.549
position in which we concluded it to be
00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:14.950
unlikely that Hwell left the Wiltshire
00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:17.190
area or was present in the North
00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.830
Yorkshire area at the time of Claudia's
00:22:19.840 --> 00:22:23.270
disappearance. End quote.
00:22:23.280 --> 00:22:25.350
When asked about her thoughts on the
00:22:25.360 --> 00:22:27.430
potential for Christopher Hwell to be
00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:28.710
involved in her daughter's
00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:31.510
disappearance, Joan Lawrence responded,
00:22:31.520 --> 00:22:33.909
quote, "The police may not have proved
00:22:33.919 --> 00:22:36.070
he had anything to do with my daughter's
00:22:36.080 --> 00:22:37.909
disappearance, but they haven't
00:22:37.919 --> 00:22:42.710
disproved it either." End quote.
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:46.230
Ever since March 2009, Claudia's father,
00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:48.470
Peter, had spent large amounts of his
00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:51.590
time campaigning in one way or another.
00:22:51.600 --> 00:22:53.669
He spread the word about his daughter's
00:22:53.679 --> 00:22:56.149
case, constantly and relentlessly
00:22:56.159 --> 00:22:59.270
appealing for information. He set up a
00:22:59.280 --> 00:23:01.430
website with his close friend, Martin
00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:04.310
Dale, containing information and regular
00:23:04.320 --> 00:23:07.430
updates about the ongoing search. He
00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:09.669
appeared across multiple channels in the
00:23:09.679 --> 00:23:11.990
media in a bid to encourage people to
00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:13.990
come forward if they were harboring any
00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:15.909
information which could help the family
00:23:15.919 --> 00:23:19.190
to find Claudia. He even appeared on
00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:21.590
Britain's Got Talent as part of a choir
00:23:21.600 --> 00:23:23.110
formed with the families of other
00:23:23.120 --> 00:23:25.750
missing people.
00:23:25.760 --> 00:23:28.710
On top of all of this, Peter commenced a
00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:31.669
battle to change the law. The manner in
00:23:31.679 --> 00:23:33.590
which Claudia vanished meant that her
00:23:33.600 --> 00:23:35.909
property was suddenly left uninhabited
00:23:35.919 --> 00:23:38.710
and in the hands of her family, who,
00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:40.630
despite their ongoing suffering and
00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:42.950
trauma, were constantly faced with
00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:45.510
obstacles and difficulties in attempting
00:23:45.520 --> 00:23:49.190
to manage Claudia's assets.
00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:51.669
Mortgage payments and bills continued to
00:23:51.679 --> 00:23:54.470
acrue on the property, but Peter, Joan,
00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:56.789
and Ally were unable to access her
00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:59.669
accounts in order to make payments. They
00:23:59.679 --> 00:24:01.830
were unable to sell the property as
00:24:01.840 --> 00:24:04.310
everything was listed in Claudia's name,
00:24:04.320 --> 00:24:06.230
with none of her family members holding
00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:08.390
any documentation which would allow them
00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:11.669
to override this. Peter, with the
00:24:11.679 --> 00:24:14.230
knowledge from his role as a solicitor,
00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:16.390
started campaigning for a change to the
00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:18.390
law which would allow a guardian to be
00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:20.549
appointed to manage the affairs of a
00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:24.470
missing person. His hard work paid off
00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:26.870
when the guardianship missing persons
00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:30.549
act 2017 was introduced, which would
00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.029
enable the family of a missing person to
00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:35.190
apply to a court for guardianship of the
00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:38.310
estate and finances of a missing person
00:24:38.320 --> 00:24:41.269
after 90 days had elapsed, giving them
00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:43.590
the power to manage things like direct
00:24:43.600 --> 00:24:46.870
debits and mortgage payments.
00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:49.110
Speaking of what informally became known
00:24:49.120 --> 00:24:51.830
as Claudia's law, Peter said, quote,
00:24:51.840 --> 00:24:53.990
"This will make such a difference to the
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.070
lives of hundreds of families who have
00:24:56.080 --> 00:24:58.789
been waiting so long for it, enabling
00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:00.549
them to deal with their missing loved
00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:03.110
ones financial and property affairs in
00:25:03.120 --> 00:25:05.430
the same way as everyone else is able to
00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:09.669
do on a daily basis." End quote. His
00:25:09.679 --> 00:25:11.990
campaigning and dedication to finding
00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:14.230
out what had happened to his daughter
00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:17.029
afforded Peter Lawrence an obbe in the
00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:21.830
Queen's birthday honors list in 2018.
00:25:21.840 --> 00:25:24.070
Peter Lawrence passed away in St.
00:25:24.080 --> 00:25:26.630
Leonard's Hospice, York on the 11th of
00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:30.549
February 2021, aged 74.
00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:32.630
He never found out what happened to his
00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:34.789
daughter, but he persisted in his
00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:36.950
efforts to see the case solved right
00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:40.310
until the end. His family released a
00:25:40.320 --> 00:25:42.230
statement in the wake of his death which
00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:45.430
read, quote, "It is sad that nearly 12
00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:47.590
years after Claudia's disappearance from
00:25:47.600 --> 00:25:50.310
York, Peter never found out what has
00:25:50.320 --> 00:25:53.110
happened to her. He was a very private
00:25:53.120 --> 00:25:55.510
person thrust into the full glare of the
00:25:55.520 --> 00:25:58.230
media. And despite a tireless campaign
00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:01.029
to find her, he also selflessly devoted
00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:03.590
himself to helping others with missing
00:26:03.600 --> 00:26:05.669
relatives through the charity missing
00:26:05.679 --> 00:26:09.830
people." End quote.
00:26:09.840 --> 00:26:12.230
After the arrests of the four men in
00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:15.029
2016 and the rumors around the
00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:17.190
involvement of Christopher Halwell,
00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:19.510
Claudia's case went quiet again and
00:26:19.520 --> 00:26:22.470
somewhat faded into the background. That
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.830
was until August 2021 when a flurry of
00:26:25.840 --> 00:26:28.549
activity in a rural area to the east of
00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:31.510
York attracted public attention,
00:26:31.520 --> 00:26:33.510
pressuring police to announce that they
00:26:33.520 --> 00:26:35.990
were undertaking a search in relation to
00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:38.549
Claudia Lawrence.
00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.510
Sand Hutton Gravel Pits, two lakes which
00:26:41.520 --> 00:26:45.190
had been used for fishing since 1969,
00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:47.750
are set in an area of peaceful woodland
00:26:47.760 --> 00:26:51.029
approximately 8 miles outside of York.
00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:55.190
From August 2021 to September 2021,
00:26:55.200 --> 00:26:57.990
however, the area was cordoned off and
00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:00.870
became a hub of police activity as one
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:03.110
of the lakes was drained and a fingertip
00:27:03.120 --> 00:27:06.310
search of the lake bed was undertaken.
00:27:06.320 --> 00:27:08.710
Intense searches of the area included
00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:11.750
the use of ground penetrating radar and
00:27:11.760 --> 00:27:13.830
cadaavver dogs to scour the surrounding
00:27:13.840 --> 00:27:15.830
woodland.
00:27:15.840 --> 00:27:18.310
The senior investigating officer at the
00:27:18.320 --> 00:27:21.350
time, Wayne Fox, provided a statement to
00:27:21.360 --> 00:27:24.070
the media on the 24th of August, which
00:27:24.080 --> 00:27:25.990
said, quote, "The searches which have
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:28.230
commenced here today at Sand Hutton
00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.630
Gravel Pits are in relation to the
00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:32.870
disappearance and suspected murder of
00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:36.470
Claudia Lawrence more than 12 years ago.
00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:38.549
While I cannot say at this stage how
00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:40.870
long the search may take, I do
00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:43.029
anticipate that a number of specialist
00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:45.830
officers and staff, including underwater
00:27:45.840 --> 00:27:49.190
search teams and forensic experts, are
00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:51.430
likely to be at this location for a
00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:54.470
number of days. While I am unable to
00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:56.149
disclose what brought us to this
00:27:56.159 --> 00:27:58.549
location, I would like to stress that
00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:00.470
the searches you will see in the coming
00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:02.950
days are just one of several active
00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:04.950
lines of inquiry which are currently
00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:07.750
being investigated and pursued by North
00:28:07.760 --> 00:28:09.909
Yorkshire Police major investigation
00:28:09.919 --> 00:28:12.470
team in our efforts to establish what
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:15.350
happened to Claudia and to identify any
00:28:15.360 --> 00:28:17.830
person responsible for causing her harm.
00:28:17.840 --> 00:28:21.190
End quote. Ultimately,
00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:23.430
nothing of significance was found in the
00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:26.870
area of Sand Hutton gravel pits. By this
00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:28.950
stage, the investigation into the
00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:31.269
disappearance of Claudia Lawrence had
00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:33.430
become the largest in the history of
00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:37.269
North Yorkshire Police.
00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:40.070
After the passing of her former husband,
00:28:40.080 --> 00:28:42.549
Joan Lawrence became the central family
00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:44.389
member campaigning to solve her
00:28:44.399 --> 00:28:47.029
daughter's case. She had previously
00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:49.430
mentioned feeling somewhat sidelined by
00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:52.070
her former husband and his friend Martin
00:28:52.080 --> 00:28:55.110
Dale who had taken on a role akin to a
00:28:55.120 --> 00:28:57.430
liaison between the Lawrence family and
00:28:57.440 --> 00:28:59.990
the media.
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.870
She had however worked tirelessly behind
00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:05.110
the scenes to circulate the story of her
00:29:05.120 --> 00:29:07.350
missing daughter in the hopes that
00:29:07.360 --> 00:29:09.590
someone may come forward with one small
00:29:09.600 --> 00:29:11.830
piece of evidence which may lead to an
00:29:11.840 --> 00:29:13.590
answer.
00:29:13.600 --> 00:29:16.870
In 2023, she was approached by former
00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:19.830
sports journalist Tom McDermott.
00:29:19.840 --> 00:29:21.669
Having taken a great interest in
00:29:21.679 --> 00:29:24.549
Claudia's case, he had been delving into
00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:26.549
information which led to him being
00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:29.750
introduced to Claudia's mother. They
00:29:29.760 --> 00:29:32.230
communicated regularly after the first
00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:34.710
meeting, and his ongoing search for
00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:37.190
information inspired him to create the
00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:41.990
Answers for Claudia podcast in 2024.
00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:44.470
Throughout the podcast, he explores
00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:46.470
leads and theories which have largely
00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:48.870
been formed by uncovering information
00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:51.909
and from members of the public.
00:29:51.919 --> 00:29:53.750
During the journey of creating the
00:29:53.760 --> 00:29:56.470
podcast, Tom McDermott was shown around
00:29:56.480 --> 00:29:59.430
Claudia's home on Huis Road, which as we
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:01.590
mentioned previously, the Lawrence
00:30:01.600 --> 00:30:04.549
family had kept possession of.
00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:06.950
Joan raised her concerns with Tom that
00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:08.870
someone had been in the property in the
00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:11.590
last few months, having noticed things
00:30:11.600 --> 00:30:13.510
looking slightly different when she
00:30:13.520 --> 00:30:16.710
visited. It had, she told him, happened
00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:19.269
on two separate occasions.
00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:21.430
I can't find information as to whether
00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:23.750
there were any signs of a break-in, and
00:30:23.760 --> 00:30:25.430
would have thought that rumors of any
00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:27.430
forced entry to the property of a
00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:29.669
high-profile missing person would have
00:30:29.679 --> 00:30:31.750
made headline news.
00:30:31.760 --> 00:30:34.230
The lack of media publication suggests
00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:35.830
that whoever had been inside the
00:30:35.840 --> 00:30:38.789
property had a key or knew how to pick a
00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:40.549
lock, although this is purely
00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:43.990
speculation on my part.
00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:46.230
The disturbance in the home enabled Tom
00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:49.190
and Joan to make a discovery. Tucked
00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:51.350
away in the top of Claudia's wardrobe,
00:30:51.360 --> 00:30:53.510
and previously hidden behind stacked
00:30:53.520 --> 00:30:56.630
clothes, was a loft hatch. When the
00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:59.190
hatch was opened, the pair were able to
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:02.389
see table legs and other furniture.
00:31:02.399 --> 00:31:04.149
They aren't convinced that this part of
00:31:04.159 --> 00:31:06.549
the property was searched by police,
00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:08.230
although there is a suggestion that
00:31:08.240 --> 00:31:10.470
officers previously sent a camera up
00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:12.549
into the space without physically going
00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:14.630
up there.
00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:17.190
In addition to the loft space, they also
00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:19.510
found a couple of tissues and an open
00:31:19.520 --> 00:31:21.190
packet of chewing gum in one of
00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:23.590
Claudia's coat pockets, which they felt
00:31:23.600 --> 00:31:25.669
was worth submitting to the police for
00:31:25.679 --> 00:31:27.669
DNA testing.
00:31:27.679 --> 00:31:29.590
They spoke to North Yorkshire Police
00:31:29.600 --> 00:31:32.070
about the loft space, and officers are
00:31:32.080 --> 00:31:34.149
reportedly keen to search the property
00:31:34.159 --> 00:31:36.389
again, something which Joan is not
00:31:36.399 --> 00:31:39.830
enthusiastic about. She said, quote, "I
00:31:39.840 --> 00:31:41.830
don't want the police to do it alone as
00:31:41.840 --> 00:31:44.389
they didn't get it right the first time.
00:31:44.399 --> 00:31:46.310
I'd be happier with someone like the
00:31:46.320 --> 00:31:49.750
charity Locate International going in.
00:31:49.760 --> 00:31:52.310
It's very hard as a mom to carry on each
00:31:52.320 --> 00:31:55.430
day alone and not knowing. If things had
00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:57.029
been done properly at the beginning of
00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:59.509
the search for my daughter, maybe would
00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:02.470
we would have answers by now. I have no
00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:04.789
idea if the attic was ever searched, but
00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:06.470
it wouldn't surprise me if it hadn't
00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:09.350
been." end quote.
00:32:09.360 --> 00:32:11.750
Tom McDermott provided his opinion on
00:32:11.760 --> 00:32:13.669
the podcast that whatever had happened
00:32:13.679 --> 00:32:16.149
to Claudia happened sometime during the
00:32:16.159 --> 00:32:18.950
evening of Wednesday the 18th of March
00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:20.789
after she'd spoken to both of her
00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:23.350
parents on the telephone.
00:32:23.360 --> 00:32:25.269
He doesn't believe that she left for
00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:27.669
work on Thursday morning. He said,
00:32:27.679 --> 00:32:30.230
quote, I wouldn't say it happened in the
00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:32.549
house, but the answer to the mystery
00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:35.509
probably lies in the house still. if
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:37.669
somebody entered the property, invited
00:32:37.679 --> 00:32:40.149
or uninvited, the house would be at the
00:32:40.159 --> 00:32:43.269
heart of it, I think. End quote. He does
00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:45.509
believe, having investigated the case
00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:48.389
for 2 years, that it is solvable, and
00:32:48.399 --> 00:32:49.750
mentioned that he had been given
00:32:49.760 --> 00:32:51.830
valuable information, which he wasn't
00:32:51.840 --> 00:32:54.870
able to make public.
00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:56.950
Tom's investigation into the case of
00:32:56.960 --> 00:32:58.950
Claudia Lawrence brought forward a
00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:01.190
number of potential witnesses who said
00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:03.190
that they had made reports to the police
00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:05.909
but had never heard back.
00:33:05.919 --> 00:33:08.149
One of these was a lady known only as
00:33:08.159 --> 00:33:10.710
Bev who believed that she had discovered
00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:12.950
Claudia's purple and blue caramore
00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:15.029
backpack which had been missing from her
00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:17.830
house. She had been walking her dog
00:33:17.840 --> 00:33:19.909
along the bank of the river Tease near
00:33:19.919 --> 00:33:23.110
Inglebury Barwick around 40 mi from
00:33:23.120 --> 00:33:26.230
Huorth Road, when she spied a backpack
00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:28.549
left beneath a tree.
00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:31.509
Fueled by curiosity, she had opened the
00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:33.269
bag to find some cheese sandwiches
00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:36.630
wrapped in tin foil, but little else.
00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:38.389
Happy that the bag didn't contain
00:33:38.399 --> 00:33:40.549
anything suspicious, and perhaps
00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:42.630
thinking that its owner may be nearby
00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:45.430
and coming back to collect it, Bev left
00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:48.470
it where it was. It was only when she
00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:50.630
returned home and saw the appeal for
00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:52.549
information on television that she
00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:54.789
realized the potential importance of her
00:33:54.799 --> 00:33:58.070
discovery and contacted police. She went
00:33:58.080 --> 00:34:00.389
back to the tree to retrieve the bag,
00:34:00.399 --> 00:34:03.590
but it had gone. Bev told the podcast
00:34:03.600 --> 00:34:07.909
that the police never got back to her.
00:34:07.919 --> 00:34:10.230
A further potential witness, known only
00:34:10.240 --> 00:34:13.270
as Dave, told Tom McDermott that he had
00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:15.109
been driving along the A1 near
00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:18.310
Weatherbe, 16 mi to the west of York,
00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:21.430
the day before Claudia went missing. He
00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:24.069
drove a van between arcades, collecting
00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:26.389
and delivering money to the venues, and
00:34:26.399 --> 00:34:28.869
had a colleague in the passenger seat.
00:34:28.879 --> 00:34:31.430
He said, quote, "I was looking at the
00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:33.829
road and in between lane one and lane
00:34:33.839 --> 00:34:36.310
two, I saw a woman stood on the white
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:38.950
line with her arms out. My colleague
00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:41.190
shouted, "Watch out." And I was ready to
00:34:41.200 --> 00:34:43.750
pull around her, and I just remember the
00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:46.389
face of this woman standing there. She
00:34:46.399 --> 00:34:48.790
looked absolutely petrified, and I must
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:51.510
have missed her by inches. It all went
00:34:51.520 --> 00:34:53.909
in slow motion, and I saw the fear in
00:34:53.919 --> 00:34:56.710
her eyes. End quote.
00:34:56.720 --> 00:34:58.710
Dave had pulled over on the side of the
00:34:58.720 --> 00:35:00.710
road and called police to let them know
00:35:00.720 --> 00:35:03.589
of the incident. His main concern at the
00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:05.430
time was that someone knew he was
00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:07.030
transporting money and had been
00:35:07.040 --> 00:35:10.230
attempting to rob the van. After putting
00:35:10.240 --> 00:35:11.990
the phone down and continuing his
00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:14.470
journey, he thought little of the woman
00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:17.030
until, like Bev, he saw the news
00:35:17.040 --> 00:35:19.030
bulletin about a missing woman from
00:35:19.040 --> 00:35:22.150
York. Quote, I was just sitting there
00:35:22.160 --> 00:35:24.550
and I said to my wife, "That's her.
00:35:24.560 --> 00:35:27.030
That's the woman off the A1. I got
00:35:27.040 --> 00:35:30.230
goosebumps. End quote.
00:35:30.240 --> 00:35:32.630
He too never received a call back from
00:35:32.640 --> 00:35:35.670
North Yorkshire Police. Surely this begs
00:35:35.680 --> 00:35:37.829
the question that if these two calls to
00:35:37.839 --> 00:35:40.230
the force weren't followed up, how many
00:35:40.240 --> 00:35:43.190
more could there be?
00:35:43.200 --> 00:35:45.430
Tom interviewed a number of people as
00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:48.069
part of the Answers for Claudia podcast,
00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:50.230
including Michaela, who had been friends
00:35:50.240 --> 00:35:53.109
with Claudia during their teenage years.
00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:55.349
They had taken the same train to school,
00:35:55.359 --> 00:35:56.870
which is where the pair started
00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:59.910
chatting. She described Claudia as
00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:03.349
quote, "Caring, funny, dry, quirky, and
00:36:03.359 --> 00:36:06.790
eccentric," end quote.
00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:09.349
After the controversial articles printed
00:36:09.359 --> 00:36:11.510
by the press about Claudia's personal
00:36:11.520 --> 00:36:14.150
relationships, Michaela tried to help
00:36:14.160 --> 00:36:16.230
the public see her friend as a human
00:36:16.240 --> 00:36:18.710
being by publishing a number of letters
00:36:18.720 --> 00:36:20.630
Claudia had written to her during their
00:36:20.640 --> 00:36:22.310
teens.
00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:24.150
This was in the days before mobile
00:36:24.160 --> 00:36:26.630
phones where young people would happily
00:36:26.640 --> 00:36:28.790
post each other letters to keep in touch
00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:31.030
during the school holidays.
00:36:31.040 --> 00:36:33.109
Michaela had treasured the memories from
00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:35.510
her childhood and hoped that it helped
00:36:35.520 --> 00:36:37.990
to give Claudia a voice after all of the
00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:40.069
rumors and information printed about
00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:41.910
her.
00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:44.870
Tom McDermott also spoke to Jenny King,
00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:46.790
one of Claudia's close friends and
00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:49.910
barmaid at the Nag's Head. As well as
00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:52.470
socializing regularly during the week,
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:55.349
Claudia had also lived with Jenny in her
00:36:55.359 --> 00:36:58.390
Huath Road property for a period of time
00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:01.670
before Jenny moved in with her partner.
00:37:01.680 --> 00:37:03.910
Jenny had commented to Tom McDermott
00:37:03.920 --> 00:37:06.790
that Claudia hated walking anywhere,
00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:08.630
even when they went into town at
00:37:08.640 --> 00:37:11.030
weekends. She would much prefer to catch
00:37:11.040 --> 00:37:14.390
a taxi home than walk. If someone she
00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:16.470
knew had stopped to offer her a lift
00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:19.190
into work on the 19th of March, would
00:37:19.200 --> 00:37:21.109
she have got into the car rather than
00:37:21.119 --> 00:37:23.990
carry on walking?
00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:26.069
Jenny spoke to the podcast about the
00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:28.390
treatment she had received from police
00:37:28.400 --> 00:37:30.790
and from those on social media once the
00:37:30.800 --> 00:37:33.990
case hit national news. She described
00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:36.710
how she struggled to trust people around
00:37:36.720 --> 00:37:39.190
her during her dayto-day life,
00:37:39.200 --> 00:37:41.030
especially after encountering some
00:37:41.040 --> 00:37:43.270
undercover police officers who tried to
00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:46.310
obtain information from her. She told
00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:49.109
the podcast, quote, "When you've proven
00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:51.030
your innocence, which I've done more
00:37:51.040 --> 00:37:54.230
than once, you don't get a sorry letter.
00:37:54.240 --> 00:37:55.750
When they've searched your house and
00:37:55.760 --> 00:37:58.069
tipped it all upside down, they don't
00:37:58.079 --> 00:37:59.990
send in a cleaning crew to put it all
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:02.630
back together again. They don't give you
00:38:02.640 --> 00:38:04.230
that time back when you've been
00:38:04.240 --> 00:38:06.310
separated from your loved ones because
00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:07.990
they've had to go and answer questions
00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:10.550
in one place and I've had to go answer
00:38:10.560 --> 00:38:13.030
questions in another place. They've
00:38:13.040 --> 00:38:15.349
taken my car. They've taken my work
00:38:15.359 --> 00:38:17.750
stuff. I couldn't work for 2 months
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:20.390
because they took all my work equipment.
00:38:20.400 --> 00:38:22.630
I was on the verge of moving because I
00:38:22.640 --> 00:38:24.390
just couldn't settle in that house
00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:27.510
anymore. It was pretty horrific the
00:38:27.520 --> 00:38:29.510
impact of even when you've proved your
00:38:29.520 --> 00:38:31.750
innocence that you were still made to
00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:33.829
feel you have something to be guilty for
00:38:33.839 --> 00:38:36.550
when you don't. I have never been
00:38:36.560 --> 00:38:38.630
through anything other than Claudia
00:38:38.640 --> 00:38:41.190
going missing more traumatic than the
00:38:41.200 --> 00:38:44.870
police investigation. End quote.
00:38:44.880 --> 00:38:47.270
Jenny also spoke about the last time she
00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:50.310
saw Claudia before her disappearance.
00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:52.310
Claudia had been drinking in the Nag's
00:38:52.320 --> 00:38:54.790
Head with Jenny and her boyfriend, and
00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:56.710
after leaving the establishment, they
00:38:56.720 --> 00:38:59.510
walked up Huith Road together.
00:38:59.520 --> 00:39:01.589
Jenny and her boyfriend waited by the
00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:03.430
gate to Claudia's property as she
00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:05.910
rummaged in her bag for her house key,
00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:08.150
then watched her go into her home and
00:39:08.160 --> 00:39:10.230
made sure she was safely in the property
00:39:10.240 --> 00:39:12.630
before they kept walking.
00:39:12.640 --> 00:39:15.270
Jenny said, quote, "We went home, and
00:39:15.280 --> 00:39:17.349
that was the last time I ever really saw
00:39:17.359 --> 00:39:20.069
her. I heard from her again. We text
00:39:20.079 --> 00:39:22.630
during that week. It's nice to know the
00:39:22.640 --> 00:39:24.870
last time I ever saw her was doing what
00:39:24.880 --> 00:39:27.030
I thought was the right thing and making
00:39:27.040 --> 00:39:30.310
sure she was safe. End quote.
00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:32.069
I think Jenny provides a really
00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:34.710
important message here. The general code
00:39:34.720 --> 00:39:37.109
of conduct, especially between female
00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:39.510
friends, is to make sure that you know
00:39:39.520 --> 00:39:41.510
where your friends are when you're out
00:39:41.520 --> 00:39:43.270
and to make sure they make it home
00:39:43.280 --> 00:39:46.150
safely. The message is the same whatever
00:39:46.160 --> 00:39:48.710
your gender. Make sure your friends make
00:39:48.720 --> 00:39:51.030
it home because you just never know what
00:39:51.040 --> 00:39:54.150
might happen. If nothing else, your
00:39:54.160 --> 00:39:56.230
conscience can rest easy knowing that
00:39:56.240 --> 00:39:58.069
you did your best for your friend in
00:39:58.079 --> 00:40:01.430
that moment.
00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:04.710
March 2024 would be the 15th anniversary
00:40:04.720 --> 00:40:06.470
of the disappearance of Claudia
00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:09.990
Lawrence. To mark the milestone, Joan
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:12.550
Lawrence was interviewed by BBC Radio
00:40:12.560 --> 00:40:15.670
York in a piece titled Claudia Lawrence,
00:40:15.680 --> 00:40:19.030
a mother's story. Joan's dedication to
00:40:19.040 --> 00:40:20.550
finding out what happened to her
00:40:20.560 --> 00:40:23.109
daughter is relentless and unwavering as
00:40:23.119 --> 00:40:25.589
the years pass.
00:40:25.599 --> 00:40:27.910
Joan has spoken of how she still clings
00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:30.550
to the hope that Claudia might be alive.
00:40:30.560 --> 00:40:33.829
She would be in her 50s now. In a
00:40:33.839 --> 00:40:35.670
horrible twist of events, one of
00:40:35.680 --> 00:40:37.829
Claudia's childhood friends, Lisa
00:40:37.839 --> 00:40:40.310
Welfford, was killed by an abusive
00:40:40.320 --> 00:40:43.030
partner, suffering fatal brain injuries
00:40:43.040 --> 00:40:44.870
which led to her passing away in
00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:47.990
hospital. Joan spoke about her reaction
00:40:48.000 --> 00:40:50.550
to this news, saying, quote, "I didn't
00:40:50.560 --> 00:40:53.109
cope well. It brought all the pain back
00:40:53.119 --> 00:40:55.750
of when Claudia went missing. It's such
00:40:55.760 --> 00:40:59.109
a crushing, allconsuming pain. How could
00:40:59.119 --> 00:41:01.190
two children that have grown up together
00:41:01.200 --> 00:41:03.349
have such terrible things happen to
00:41:03.359 --> 00:41:06.150
them? I also knew Claudia would have
00:41:06.160 --> 00:41:08.790
been devastated to hear about Lisa, as
00:41:08.800 --> 00:41:11.430
Lisa was when Claudia went missing. She
00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:14.950
would be crushed." End quote.
00:41:14.960 --> 00:41:17.109
Joan regularly receives calls and
00:41:17.119 --> 00:41:19.030
messages from people providing
00:41:19.040 --> 00:41:21.190
information or tips relating to her
00:41:21.200 --> 00:41:23.589
missing daughter, although not all are
00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:26.309
likely to be genuine. She once had a
00:41:26.319 --> 00:41:28.870
call from a psychic in Nottingham who
00:41:28.880 --> 00:41:31.030
told her that Claudia had been strangled
00:41:31.040 --> 00:41:33.190
and reported that he knew where her body
00:41:33.200 --> 00:41:35.109
could be found after seeing it in a
00:41:35.119 --> 00:41:37.910
vision. Another man has told her that
00:41:37.920 --> 00:41:40.550
Claudia is alive and well in Australia
00:41:40.560 --> 00:41:43.349
and is happily married. She even
00:41:43.359 --> 00:41:45.589
received a call from a man who told Joan
00:41:45.599 --> 00:41:47.670
that he had met Claudia several times in
00:41:47.680 --> 00:41:49.990
the pub and told her that her daughter
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:52.309
had been picked up by two men on her way
00:41:52.319 --> 00:41:54.950
to work on the 19th of March. had
00:41:54.960 --> 00:41:57.349
subsequently been killed and her body
00:41:57.359 --> 00:42:00.309
placed in a crushing machine. However,
00:42:00.319 --> 00:42:02.230
when asked if he would go on the record
00:42:02.240 --> 00:42:03.990
to talk more in depth about his
00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:06.390
suspicions, he became reluctant to
00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:08.309
continue.
00:42:08.319 --> 00:42:10.390
People even put notes through Joan's
00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:12.870
letter box, sometimes claiming that they
00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:16.390
know or knew her daughter. Whilst many
00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:18.630
of the people who have contacted her may
00:42:18.640 --> 00:42:21.109
have good intentions, the continuous
00:42:21.119 --> 00:42:22.950
pain this must cause for Joan is
00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:24.710
unspeakable.
00:42:24.720 --> 00:42:27.270
She likely has her hopes raised time and
00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:29.990
time again, and yet still has no real
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:32.309
idea what happened to her much loved
00:42:32.319 --> 00:42:35.270
youngest daughter. In her own words,
00:42:35.280 --> 00:42:38.390
quote, "I'm utterly exhausted. Every
00:42:38.400 --> 00:42:40.150
time I find something new, it
00:42:40.160 --> 00:42:42.309
emotionally drains me and reminds me
00:42:42.319 --> 00:42:45.030
that I have absolutely no closure." End
00:42:45.040 --> 00:42:48.069
quote.
00:42:48.079 --> 00:42:51.270
So, where is the case at the moment?
00:42:51.280 --> 00:42:53.349
North Yorkshire Police continue to
00:42:53.359 --> 00:42:55.750
investigate in the background, and it's
00:42:55.760 --> 00:42:57.750
worth mentioning that the public only
00:42:57.760 --> 00:42:59.910
know the information they have chosen to
00:42:59.920 --> 00:43:03.270
release. They will have far more details
00:43:03.280 --> 00:43:05.750
in their files and records, and any
00:43:05.760 --> 00:43:07.750
arrests they have made will be based on
00:43:07.760 --> 00:43:10.309
evidence, whether circumstantial or
00:43:10.319 --> 00:43:12.230
physical, in their possession at the
00:43:12.240 --> 00:43:15.510
time. The current senior investigating
00:43:15.520 --> 00:43:18.309
officer, John Syroveve, who took over
00:43:18.319 --> 00:43:21.270
the case in February 2025,
00:43:21.280 --> 00:43:22.950
describes the case as being in a
00:43:22.960 --> 00:43:25.349
reactive phase in that the force
00:43:25.359 --> 00:43:27.510
investigates lines of inquiry which
00:43:27.520 --> 00:43:30.390
develop from newly submitted information
00:43:30.400 --> 00:43:32.470
such as the search of Sand Hutton in
00:43:32.480 --> 00:43:34.550
2021.
00:43:34.560 --> 00:43:36.470
In a statement on the North Yorkshire
00:43:36.480 --> 00:43:39.349
Police website, he says, quote, "Every
00:43:39.359 --> 00:43:41.829
new piece of information is carefully
00:43:41.839 --> 00:43:43.990
assessed against the significant volumes
00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:46.150
of material that has been gathered over
00:43:46.160 --> 00:43:49.190
the full course of the investigation.
00:43:49.200 --> 00:43:51.190
North Yorkshire Police will never give
00:43:51.200 --> 00:43:53.270
up on the search for the truth." End
00:43:53.280 --> 00:43:55.349
quote.
00:43:55.359 --> 00:43:58.950
In November 2025, an age progressed
00:43:58.960 --> 00:44:01.430
facial reconstruction was issued by the
00:44:01.440 --> 00:44:03.670
International Investigation of Missing
00:44:03.680 --> 00:44:06.710
Persons in conjunction with forensic
00:44:06.720 --> 00:44:09.910
specialist Marcel Van Am to give the
00:44:09.920 --> 00:44:11.990
public an impression on how Claudia may
00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:14.870
look at the age of 51.
00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:16.790
Police have been convinced over the
00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:19.270
years that someone knows information and
00:44:19.280 --> 00:44:21.670
isn't coming forward.
00:44:21.680 --> 00:44:23.829
It's hoped that continued publicity
00:44:23.839 --> 00:44:26.069
around her case will encourage those who
00:44:26.079 --> 00:44:27.910
have perhaps felt in the past that they
00:44:27.920 --> 00:44:30.550
can't speak up to come forward or may
00:44:30.560 --> 00:44:33.990
jog the memory of new witnesses.
00:44:34.000 --> 00:44:36.550
Crimestoppers offer any witnesses the
00:44:36.560 --> 00:44:39.270
right to total anonymity in submitting
00:44:39.280 --> 00:44:41.589
information if someone is worried about
00:44:41.599 --> 00:44:43.829
coming forward.
00:44:43.839 --> 00:44:46.230
Claudia's mother, Joan Lawrence, is now
00:44:46.240 --> 00:44:48.870
in her 80s and is still endeavoring to
00:44:48.880 --> 00:44:51.910
seek answers in her daughter's case. She
00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:54.069
clings to the hope that Claudia will be
00:44:54.079 --> 00:44:57.109
found. And after nearly two decades, she
00:44:57.119 --> 00:44:59.030
and Claudia's family deserve a
00:44:59.040 --> 00:45:02.230
resolution. As Joan has said before,
00:45:02.240 --> 00:45:04.390
there is no closure whilst the case sits
00:45:04.400 --> 00:45:07.270
in a state of limbo.
00:45:07.280 --> 00:45:09.190
The theories of what may have happened
00:45:09.200 --> 00:45:12.150
to this beautiful, sociable 35year-old
00:45:12.160 --> 00:45:15.270
are endless. Documentaries and videos
00:45:15.280 --> 00:45:17.430
can be found online which troll through
00:45:17.440 --> 00:45:19.829
rumors and possibilities, but the
00:45:19.839 --> 00:45:22.630
situation is ultimately that it remains
00:45:22.640 --> 00:45:26.390
a total mystery. A woman disappeared
00:45:26.400 --> 00:45:28.550
seemingly without a trace, something
00:45:28.560 --> 00:45:31.349
which is a terrifying concept.
00:45:31.359 --> 00:45:33.430
We all like to think that should
00:45:33.440 --> 00:45:35.589
something happen to our loved ones, the
00:45:35.599 --> 00:45:37.589
police would be able to follow a trail
00:45:37.599 --> 00:45:40.390
of forensic evidence and find them. And
00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:42.230
the fact that someone has been missing
00:45:42.240 --> 00:45:44.630
for nearly two decades is something that
00:45:44.640 --> 00:45:48.230
shakes many of us to our core.
00:45:48.240 --> 00:45:50.309
Although it's possible that Claudia was
00:45:50.319 --> 00:45:53.589
taken and as police suspect, murdered by
00:45:53.599 --> 00:45:55.910
someone she knew, there is another
00:45:55.920 --> 00:45:58.470
possibility that a complete stranger
00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:00.710
spotted her and decided to do something
00:46:00.720 --> 00:46:03.670
truly awful. It's impossible to say
00:46:03.680 --> 00:46:05.750
which is worse.
00:46:05.760 --> 00:46:08.470
The final word of this case file must go
00:46:08.480 --> 00:46:10.230
to Claudia.
00:46:10.240 --> 00:46:12.870
Her private life was pasted across media
00:46:12.880 --> 00:46:14.950
headlines, in the papers, and on the
00:46:14.960 --> 00:46:18.390
television. Her secrets were discussed
00:46:18.400 --> 00:46:21.109
in depth on social media and speculated
00:46:21.119 --> 00:46:23.670
over with people developing their own
00:46:23.680 --> 00:46:25.750
opinions on the reputation of a woman
00:46:25.760 --> 00:46:28.069
they had never met.
00:46:28.079 --> 00:46:29.990
Things that she wasn't even comfortable
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:32.390
telling her friends suddenly became the
00:46:32.400 --> 00:46:35.109
focus of national news with Claudia
00:46:35.119 --> 00:46:37.190
having no chance to defend herself
00:46:37.200 --> 00:46:40.470
against the things being said about her.
00:46:40.480 --> 00:46:42.390
What we do know is that she was an
00:46:42.400 --> 00:46:44.550
independent woman with a career which
00:46:44.560 --> 00:46:47.430
she loved. colleagues who respected her,
00:46:47.440 --> 00:46:49.910
a wide circle of friends, a loving
00:46:49.920 --> 00:46:53.190
family, and a home of her own. She
00:46:53.200 --> 00:46:55.589
enjoyed socializing and spending time
00:46:55.599 --> 00:46:58.230
with her family and friends. She loved
00:46:58.240 --> 00:47:00.470
horses and still spent her free time
00:47:00.480 --> 00:47:03.349
going horse riding. Her family is
00:47:03.359 --> 00:47:04.630
certain that she wouldn't have
00:47:04.640 --> 00:47:06.710
voluntarily left without letting them
00:47:06.720 --> 00:47:08.790
know.
00:47:08.800 --> 00:47:10.790
No matter what happened in the private
00:47:10.800 --> 00:47:13.670
life of this 35year-old woman, she
00:47:13.680 --> 00:47:16.230
didn't deserve to vanish. She didn't
00:47:16.240 --> 00:47:18.950
deserve whatever happened to her. She
00:47:18.960 --> 00:47:21.270
had every right to continue to live her
00:47:21.280 --> 00:47:23.349
life and make her own decisions along
00:47:23.359 --> 00:47:26.390
the way. Claudia's family deserve
00:47:26.400 --> 00:47:28.870
closure after all this time. And the
00:47:28.880 --> 00:47:31.030
best we can do is to keep spreading the
00:47:31.040 --> 00:47:33.670
word. keep Claudia's story in the public
00:47:33.680 --> 00:47:36.309
eye and hope that someone comes forward
00:47:36.319 --> 00:47:38.470
with the vital clue that will tip this
00:47:38.480 --> 00:47:43.430
case in the direction of a resolution.
00:47:43.440 --> 00:47:45.829
If you have any information about the
00:47:45.839 --> 00:47:47.990
disappearance and suspected murder of
00:47:48.000 --> 00:47:51.270
Claudia Lawrence in March 2009,
00:47:51.280 --> 00:47:53.829
please contact North Yorkshire Police on
00:47:53.839 --> 00:47:57.910
101 or make a report on their website.
00:47:57.920 --> 00:47:59.990
If you have any information and would
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:02.710
prefer to remain anonymous, you can call
00:48:02.720 --> 00:48:07.430
Crimestoppers on 0800LE5LE1
00:48:07.440 --> 00:48:09.270
or make a submission using their
00:48:09.280 --> 00:48:13.480
anonymous online form.