Claudia Lawrence police search pub with body-sniffing dogs
Adam Fresco, Crime Correspondent
Detectives investigating the disappearance of the chef Claudia Lawrence today brought in dogs trained to find bodies as they searched a pub near her home.
It is the second time offices have searched the site with the latest “more detailed” sweep said to be “integral” to the case.
Ms Lawrence was last sighted at her home 12 weeks ago and was reported missing after she failed to arrive for a 6am shift at the University of York's Goodricke College. The Nag’s Head Pub is just doors away from her home.
Detectives, who are treating the case as suspected murder, believe that her disappearance is linked to a secretive love life that she kept hidden from friends and family.
Ms Lawrence, 35, the daughter of a solicitor, was described by family and friends as sweet-natured, sociable and hard working but the police believe that her private life was complicated.
A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said that nobody had been arrested in connection with her disappearance and the search, involving 11 search officers, was part of the ongoing investigation.
The spokesman said: “Today’s search of the Nag's Head public house is the latest element of what is a continuously developing investigation.
“The search is a detailed one and will take several hours to complete. It is in addition to a search of the premises that took place on March 28 and forms an integral part of the overall search strategy that has been, and will continue to be, a central feature of the investigation.”
By 4pm crime scene investigators wearing blue plastic gloves began to file out into the pub car park and three large police vans left the scene.
Within ten minutes, the pub, still displaying posters reading “Have you seen Claudia?”, was open to customers but bar staff refused to discuss the search.
Miss Lawrence, a prolific texter, last spoke to her family on the evening of Wednesday March 18 and exchanged text messages with two friends. The next day her phone was switched off or powered down and has not been located.
She took no money, bank cards or passport.
Her disappearance was featured on the BBC Crimewatch programme.
Detective Superintendent Ray Galloway, of North Yorkshire Police, said he was certain she had kept some of her more "complex and mysterious" relationships secret.
"As the investigation has developed, it is apparent that some of Claudia's relationships had an element of complexity and mystery to them," he said. "I am certain that some of those relationships were not known to her family and her friends. I need to know the details of those relationships."
Mr Galloway promised that anyone contacting the police would be dealt with in a discreet and confidential manner.
He added: "I am not here to judge Claudia's relationships. I am here to investigate them. I need people to share that information with me."
After the public appeal on Crimewatch, North Yorkshire Police said that they received about 40 calls offering information.
Alexandria Sims, Ms Lawrence's sister, talked about the strain of not knowing what had happened. "I find it hard to accept that people just vanish into thin air," she said. "There must be people out there that have seen something suspicious or who know something that has happened."
Miss Lawrence's father, Peter Lawrence, 62, from Malton, North Yorkshire, said: "It is almost unbearable not knowing. If anyone else out there who does have the knowledge [of what happened to her] has a family, they must know what we are going through."
The investigation is the biggest North Yorkshire Police have conducted since the search for multiple killer Mark Hobson five years ago.
It is the second time offices have searched the site with the latest “more detailed” sweep said to be “integral” to the case.
Ms Lawrence was last sighted at her home 12 weeks ago and was reported missing after she failed to arrive for a 6am shift at the University of York's Goodricke College. The Nag’s Head Pub is just doors away from her home.
Detectives, who are treating the case as suspected murder, believe that her disappearance is linked to a secretive love life that she kept hidden from friends and family.
Ms Lawrence, 35, the daughter of a solicitor, was described by family and friends as sweet-natured, sociable and hard working but the police believe that her private life was complicated.
A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said that nobody had been arrested in connection with her disappearance and the search, involving 11 search officers, was part of the ongoing investigation.
The spokesman said: “Today’s search of the Nag's Head public house is the latest element of what is a continuously developing investigation.
“The search is a detailed one and will take several hours to complete. It is in addition to a search of the premises that took place on March 28 and forms an integral part of the overall search strategy that has been, and will continue to be, a central feature of the investigation.”
By 4pm crime scene investigators wearing blue plastic gloves began to file out into the pub car park and three large police vans left the scene.
Within ten minutes, the pub, still displaying posters reading “Have you seen Claudia?”, was open to customers but bar staff refused to discuss the search.
Miss Lawrence, a prolific texter, last spoke to her family on the evening of Wednesday March 18 and exchanged text messages with two friends. The next day her phone was switched off or powered down and has not been located.
She took no money, bank cards or passport.
Her disappearance was featured on the BBC Crimewatch programme.
Detective Superintendent Ray Galloway, of North Yorkshire Police, said he was certain she had kept some of her more "complex and mysterious" relationships secret.
"As the investigation has developed, it is apparent that some of Claudia's relationships had an element of complexity and mystery to them," he said. "I am certain that some of those relationships were not known to her family and her friends. I need to know the details of those relationships."
Mr Galloway promised that anyone contacting the police would be dealt with in a discreet and confidential manner.
He added: "I am not here to judge Claudia's relationships. I am here to investigate them. I need people to share that information with me."
After the public appeal on Crimewatch, North Yorkshire Police said that they received about 40 calls offering information.
Alexandria Sims, Ms Lawrence's sister, talked about the strain of not knowing what had happened. "I find it hard to accept that people just vanish into thin air," she said. "There must be people out there that have seen something suspicious or who know something that has happened."
Miss Lawrence's father, Peter Lawrence, 62, from Malton, North Yorkshire, said: "It is almost unbearable not knowing. If anyone else out there who does have the knowledge [of what happened to her] has a family, they must know what we are going through."
The investigation is the biggest North Yorkshire Police have conducted since the search for multiple killer Mark Hobson five years ago.
http://steelmagnolia-gossips.blogspot.com/2011/03/avonmouth-human-remains-found.html
AVONMOUTH: remains of woman found
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1193012/Missing-chef-Claudia-Lawrences-adulterous-affair-shocks-family.html
