1 - The Disappearance of Claudia Lawrence [REMASTERED] - The True Crime Witch Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:20):
Good evening friends. I'm your host, Emma, and you're listening to the
True Crime Which podcast. The podcastit takes you into everything murderous, mysterious
and Downwright macab If you like whatyou here, please give me a five
star rating on iTunes and follow meon all of my social media, which
will be linked below. I alsohave a patron for those who want to
make contributions to the podcast and helpmake this my full time job. I'm

(00:45):
eternally grateful for you all. Thisepisode contains graphic content and listener discretion is
advised. With that in mind,let's get into the episode. This is
episode one remastered The disappear parents ofClaudia Lawrence. Claudia Elizabeth Lawrence was born

(01:14):
on February twenty seventh, nineteen seventyfour, in Molton, North Yorkshire,
to Peter and Joan Lawrence. Atthe time of her disappearance, Claudia was
working as a chef at the Universityof York. Claudia was just thirty five
years old when she went missing.Claudia was last seen near her home in
Melrosegate, New York, on Marcheighteenth, twenty nine. She had returned

(01:40):
from her job as a chef atthe University of York's good Rick College in
the Roger Kirk Center, and shemade contact with her parents via telephone that
evening. Claudia was obsessed with herphone, spending every spare moment she could
texting or using her phone. Shepretty much never let the phone battery die
and always lets someone close to herknow where she was going. Two thousand

(02:04):
and nine was a time before smartphones, so Claudia wasn't on Facebook, Twitter
or anything that we have these days, and she know she mainly kept in
contact in the old schoolway text calls, etc. Her mother, Joan,
explains how she spoke to Claudia onthe phone at around eight to eight thirty.

(02:25):
They made plans to spend the upcomingMother's Day together, which was on
Sunday, the twenty second of Marchtwo thousand and nine. Joan also said
that her and Claudia were watching thesame TV show together as she could hear
it in the background, and thepair were discussing what was happening together.
Little did Joe know that this wouldbe the last time that she would ever

(02:47):
get to speak to Claudia. Claudiasent a text to her friend at eight
twenty three pm, and the lastreceived text came through at nine twelve pm
from a number that was based inCyprus. The last text that Claudia received
was apparently never opened by her onher phone. Now, this could be

(03:07):
because Claudia went to bed at aroundnine pm usual every night, and this
was because she had to be outof the house for five o'clock to start
her six o'clock shift every morning.It was well known that Claudia often holiday
in Cyprus, even going so faras to making friends with all of the

(03:28):
local bartenders and returning each year tosee them again and just have a good
time. They all kept in regularcontact by a text, email, etc.
Claudia left her passport and her bankcards at home when she went missing.
This isn't unusual as it's unlikely shewould have needed a bank card for

(03:50):
work. You know, she mayhave carried cash with her and I can't
see why she would need her passport. She did, however, take her
work bag and her hair straighteners.It could be possible that Claudia could have
traveled around the UK just using cash. You know, to get to Scotland
and Wales, you don't need apassport. To gain entry into Northern Ireland,

(04:14):
depending on how you get there.All you need is proof of been
a UK citizen, so you coulduse driver's license or you know, you
can use a passport, but mostpeople commonly use just a driver's license.
But these theories all seem pretty unlikely, as Claudia's car was actually in for
repair of the morning that she wentmissing, and because of this she actually

(04:36):
had to walk to work that morning. It seems odd that she would choose
to disappear without collecting a car,taking a passport, bank card, phone
charger, spare pairs of clothes,etc. As I mentioned previously, at
the time of a disappearance, Claudia'sgreen or blue Vauxhall Corsa was being paired

(05:00):
at a local garage, meaning thatshe would have to make the walk to
work. She would have taken wholeroad, which led through a concealed area
and across a bridge. This walkwould have taken her approximately thirty minutes from
her home in Meryll's Gate to theuniversity where she worked. Now it's unknown

(05:20):
whether Claudia was reported missing on thenineteenth of March when she failed to show
up for her six am shift,or whether she was reported missing on the
twentieth of March by her dad.Peter claims that he had contacted several of
her friends and co workers when hehadn't been able to get hold of her,
who obviously said the same, wehadn't seen her. Also, on

(05:46):
the nineteenth of March, Claudia's phonewas switched off at ten past twelve in
the afternoon. Police have been unableto confirm whether it was switched off manually
or whether it was turned off becauseit had drained itself a battery. The
first case seems more likely, asby all accounts, Claudia was obsessed with
her phone and she would have neverlet it run out of bastery. North

(06:10):
Yorkshire Police later changed a case froma missing persons she was suspected murder,
despite their being little to no evidenceto back this up. Even the forensic
investigation wouldn't have been finished at thatpoint, so it's unknown what led North
Yorkshire Police to believe this, andthey've never fully disclosed why. North Yorkshire

(06:31):
Police even went so far to claimthat Claudia had a secret life that her
family knew nothing about, and thatshe had many quote complicated relationships. Her
father, Peter Lawrence strongly denied theseclaims made by North Yorkshire Police on the
BBC Today program on June fourth,two thousand and nine. Many tabloids in
the UK made a huge deal outof Claudia's quote complicated relationships and secret life.

(06:59):
And as newspapers, magazines, tabloidsdo, they run with scandalous stories
that may or may not be trueand are very damaging to the victims and
their families and innocent people. Soif you google Claudia's name and maybe put
relationships or something, you will seea lot of scummy tabloids who tried to

(07:23):
put the blame on Claudia and claimall sorts of wild nonsense, especially in
the early days of the investigation.John, thank you very much for talking
to us. Can you tell usabout Claudia? So much to tell about
Claudia from the day she was bornso now to this nightmare situation we're in.

(07:50):
That is every parent's worst nightmare,that you only think it's going to
happen to somebody else. Can youbegin to describe what it is like for
a mother not knowing what has happenedto their daughter. Some things are very
very difficult to put into words.You're thinking of a twenty four seven.

(08:16):
It never ever goes away, nomatter how busy I am, it doesn't
go away. And you look outthe window and it's really cold, and
I think, I wonder where sheis because she doesn't like the cold.
And then it'd be a nice day. And then I'll look out of the
window and it's springtime, and springtimeher very favorite flowers are tulips, and

(08:39):
it's tulip time. And then Ithink it's east to time, and east
it's a time of hope. Ijust have to have strength and courage to
get me through every day. Butthe heartache of the tears that never stop.
And I'll be very busy and thensomething I'll pick it up on the

(09:01):
news. So I'm surrounded by giftsfrom Claudia my lounge or the bedroom,
or I've got something with me todaythat she gave it said it's a makeup
bag. Ah, it's so difficultto describe it. It's just awful.
It's absolutely awful every single day.Oh, yes, do you. Yes,
I've never given up hope. Ever, I couldn't go through without the

(09:24):
hope. Yes, that'll always bethere because we don't know, and because
you believe that Claudia is alive.Is that part of the reason why you
write letters to her? Sometimes thisis I can I describe it like a
dream. And then you think youmight wake up one day and she'll be

(09:46):
there and she'll say hi, mommback, because that's the sort of thing
she would say. And I think, well, if I write these down,
maybe one day she look at them. What kind of things do you
write? I write, I writethings that happen each day. I mean,

(10:07):
she's missed a lot. She's misterNephews growing up and the gorgeous and
she loved she absolutely loved them.Just feelings of each day, wondering where
you are and what you're doing,and how all the things that happened day
in and day out that that she'smissed. You've got You've got a scrapbook
here of that's what I kept cutting. One day she might want to look

(10:30):
at them. I don't know.Yeah. And also many many photographs and
absolutely no doubt cherished photographs. Andhow she called there about two hours,
yeah, two or to three.She had masses of curls. She hated
curly hair. She had it straightened, and I said, lots of people
spend a lot of money to getthe hair curled. Well, here's a

(10:52):
bit older. She's in her schoolschool? Yes, how old a school
uniform? Yeah? About seven?I would say how old? Would call?
Do you be? Now? Fortyone? Would she? At the
end of February. Recently the policehave released CCTV pictures which show a man
close to the alleyway at the backof carding his home. It shows this

(11:15):
man walk one way and then comeback the other way and stop short.
What did you think when you sawthose for the first time, I'm afraid
I did think if these images wereso vackuy important, why was it six
years down the line before they wereshown? It should have been shown at

(11:39):
the beginning. But I'm so sopleased that the current police team, they're
leaving no stone unturned. What ifanything has given you any comfort over the
last six years? Faith? Really? Oh? I couldn't get throughout that.
How do you reconcile your faith withwhat it has been tested a lot?

(12:05):
But I've always had it. I'vealways had a faith no matter what
traumas are. You never thought ifthere really was a God, he would
not have put my family. No, No, I've never thought that.
I don't know. I've just neverthought that. No, Um, no
matter what happens in life, there'sgot to be forgiveness. There's got to
be it's it's helped to keep mestrong and it's helped me to give me

(12:31):
courage. I mean, the positiveside of this is five percent. The
negative side is ninety five percent,and I have to cling to that five
percent every day. Clearly, youwant Claudy to come home. Yes,
yes, I don't know where sheis. I don't know what transition she
would be in. I don't knowwhat she would be like psychologically. But

(12:58):
I want to hear from her.But I don't know whether it's I've got
to be realistic. But I'll neverever give up hope never. I pray
every night, and I also believeitus or not give thanks every night for
what for what I've got, becauseI have, despite what's happened, I

(13:22):
have very very many blessings. Son, Thank you very much for talking to
us. In the early stages ofthe investigation, crime staffers offered a ten
thousand pounds reward for any information thatwould lead to an arrest. However,
this reward has since been withdrawn.North Yorkshire Police have released that they've received

(13:46):
around one thousand and two hundred tipswith information or possible leads, but they've
declined to make any further comment onthis. In September two thousand and nine,
North Yorkshire PI announced that their searchwould be expanding into Cyprus, as
the last message received by Claudia's phoneon March eighteenth was from a Cypriot number.

(14:09):
She apparently also knew a lot ofpeople on the island. Witnesses in
Cyprus seemed less than happy to cooperate. According to North Yorkshire Police's Detective Superintendent
Ray Galloway, it seems unlikely thatClaudia would have made it to Cyprus without
her passport, unless, of course, she was using a fake identity.

(14:30):
Interestingly, when her house was beingsearched by CSI Crimes and Investigation, they
found brown hair dye in Claudia's bathroombin. Claudia did have blonde hair and
highlights for a few years, buthad started to go back to her natural
brown before her disappearance. This couldexplain the box of hair dye that was

(14:52):
found in her home, but Istill think it was something worth pointing out
because Claudia had gone back to heroriginal brown hair. Her mother Joan,
was outraged when North Yorkshire Police originallyissued Claudia's missing poster featuring her with blonde
hair, something that she had nothad for many years. Obviously, this

(15:15):
is a huge error and extremely misleadingand may have even led to miss tips
or tips that were reported in error. In March twenty ten, North Yorkshire
Police conducted searches in Heslington, Yorkdue to a tip that had come to
light. However, these searches yieldednothing. An anonymous person had been placing

(15:37):
wreaths on Claudia's door each Christmas sinceher disappearance, and the police believed that
it was most likely out of guilt. A huge break in the Lawrence case
came in twenty and thirteen when NorthYorkshire Police opened Major Crimes Unit and they
said that the Major Crimes Units wouldbe taking on cases. In July two

(16:02):
thirteen, the Major Crimes Unit announcedthat in October two and thirteen they would
officially begin investigating the case of ClaudiaLawrence and another case from Harrogate that took
place in nineteen ninety seven. Thanksto the new Major Crimes Unit, a
new forensic search was conducted on Claudia'shome, They found fingerprints and mailed DNA

(16:25):
from a cigarette found in a car. They also worked on her phone,
which showed activity in the Acomb areabefore being turned off at ten past twelve
in the afternoon on March nineteenth,two thousand and nine. No Focia Police
also put out on an appeal intwo thousand and nine asking any witnesses to
come forward after a man who wasquoted to be a left hand smoker,

(16:49):
was seen with a woman on MelrosegateBridge at five thirty five am on Thursday
the nineteenth of March two thousand andnine. Another possible lead came when a
man and a woman were seen arguingby a car outside the University of York
at ten past six am. Claudiawas supposed to start her shift at six

(17:12):
am. However, if the twoincidents are connected, it could have been
possible that this man followed Claudia towork and then the pair maybe continued to
argue after she confronted him outside ofher work and obviously this made her late
for work. Crime watched ed anappeal on March nineteenth, two and fourteen,

(17:33):
which showed CCTV foyage of a silverFord Focus driving along the road where
Claudia lived, before breaking as itslowly approaches Claudia's house. March twenty,
thirty, thousand and fifteen, PLEASEannounced that they had arrested a mail in
his fifties in connection with Claudia's murder. However, on March eighth, three
thousand and sixteen, this was thrownout by the courts due to a lack

(17:57):
of forensic Ever, North Yorkshire Policehave commented that there are similarities between the
case of Melanie Hall and Joanna Yatesand that of Claudia Lawrence. They disappeared
in nineteen ninety six and two thousandand ten, respectively. They were also
young, blonde British women. However, there's no physical evidence that connects these

(18:21):
three cases. On Christmas Day twoand ten, the body of a young
woman was found and the Lawrence familywondered if they finally had answers regarding their
missing daughter. Sadly, it wasn'tthe body of Claudia, but another family
were about to experience heartbreak. Thebody was identified as the missing Joanna Yates,

(18:45):
who had been missing since earlier thatyear. At the time of a
disappearance Claudia was described as a whitefemale, five ft six, slim build,
with brown hair and brown eyes.She was seen wearing a white T
shirt, blue jeans and trainers.If alive today, Claudia would be forty

(19:08):
seven years old. As of twentytwenty one, Claudia Lawrence is still missing
and her family deserve answers and ifClaudia was murdered, she deserves justice.
If you have any information, pleasecontact the North Yorkshire Police on one or
one if you're in the UK,or you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously. Sadly,

(19:32):
on February eleventh, twenty twenty one, Peter Lawrence passed away at the
age of seventy four St. Leonard'sHospice in York. Peter was instrumental in
the search for Claudia, and hefought tirelessly to bring his daughter home and
to get justice for her. Breastin peace, Peter. As of posting

(19:53):
this episode the remastered version anyway,it will have been twelve years since Claudia
Lawrence disappeared. There are a fewpossible leads in the form of committed serial
killers such as Christopher Halliwell and othersuspects. However, nothing solid has ever
been brought forward. Until new forensicevidence or forensic techniques come out, or

(20:19):
someone breaks their twelve year our ofsilence, it's unlikely that we'll ever know
what happened to Claudio. This hasbeen this week's episode. I had a
lot of fun remastering this episode.Since it's over two years since I did
the original episode, I thought itwas well overdue to give it some revamped

(20:41):
audio quality. If you like whatyou hear, you can find me on
all podcast apps. You can findme on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,
pretty much anywhere. Just such atrue crime witch and I will see you
in two weeks. Remember, friends, stay safe and stay spooky.

All Episodes

1 - The Disappearance of Claudia Lawrence [REMASTERED]

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

Crime Junkie

Stuff You Should Know

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}1 - The Disappearance of Claudia Lawrence [REMASTERED]