Exclusive:
Claudia Lawrence’s mum discovered a hidden loft in her daughter’s wardrobe and fears it may never have been searched properly 16 years after the initial investigation
The mum of Claudia Lawrence has agreed to meet a police boss inside her missing daughter’s home.
She revealed this week how she discovered a hidden loft in her daughter’s wardrobe and fears it may never have been searched properly. But she told the Mirror she didn’t want police inside the property – as she has “lost all faith and trust in them”.
Claudia, 35, went missing in March 2009 and the alarm was raised after she failed to turn up for work at the local university or return to her home in Heworth, North Yorkshire. At first officers treated it as a missing person inquiry before changing it to a suspected murder case.
Now Joan Lawrence, 81, from Malton, has agreed to meet officers and will show them the tiny opening into the roof above her daughter’s clothes next week. She said she had “absolutely no idea” the loft existed until a recent visit a few weeks ago with a podcast crew.
And she told the Mirror about bottles found at the terraced house in Heworth in North Yorkshire which also need to be tested.
“We found them behind the internal door into the living room, it was a mixture of wine, cider and water bottles.” Joan says she doesn’t know if they have been tested but the police are now ‘aware’ of them.
She said: “Every time I speak to the police – they expect me to go back to the beginning. I don’t think they realise how emotionally draining and heartbreaking that is for me.
“They have to remember I am a mum who is coping with not knowing what has happened to my daughter. I have to live with this every minute, of every hour, of every day.”
About the meeting next Wednesday, she said: “I am willing to hear what they have to say. But they have had 16 years to find answers.
“The anniversary is coming up. This is so hard for me. It takes me right back to the beginning.
“I would like an apology for the first five years. It breaks my heart every time I go in the house, it’s such a mess which has destroyed all the happy memories I had of being there with Claudia.
“If I had been allowed in the house in the first few days, I| may have seen things that could have helped the police. I don’t know if clues were missed.”
The podcast ‘Answers for Claudia’ claimed the police said the loft was not searched in the initial search and a camera was used later. North Yorkshire Police said this week: “The new Senior Investigating Officer intends to visit Claudia’s home for familiarisation purposes only, this is not for the purpose of conducting any operational or forensic enquiries.”
