Claudia Lawrence

What happened

Claudia Lawrence, 35, worked as a chef at the University of York’s Goodricke College and lived on Heworth Road in York, according to North Yorkshire Police. She was last sighted at around 3:05 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, 2009, at the junction of Heworth Road and East Parade, walking back towards her home, and she was also captured on CCTV leaving Goodricke College and walking home. She spoke to both of her parents by telephone that evening, and both said she was in good spirits.

Claudia was due to walk the three miles to work on Thursday, March 19, for a shift beginning at 6 a.m., but she never arrived. Her father reported her missing on Friday, March 20, after friends became concerned that they had not heard from her since March 18. Her mobile phone — a silver Samsung D900 — and her blue and grey Karrimor rucksack, in which she carried her chef’s whites, have never been found.

Five weeks after her disappearance, North Yorkshire Police announced that the enquiry was now a suspected murder investigation — the largest and most complex missing person inquiry in the force’s history. Despite two separate inquiries and a comprehensive review, no trace of Claudia has ever been found. Police say the investigation has been in a reactive phase since 2017 but is not closed, and that every new piece of information is checked and evaluated. Claudia is still missing.