A woman has claimed her abusive ex-partner might have been involved in the disappearance of missing York chef Claudia Lawrence.
The man, whose identity is unknown, supposedly admitted knowing what happened to the 34-year-old who vanished without a trace from her home in the Heworth area of York on March 18, 2009.
The horrific claim was made during an episode of the Answers for Claudia podcast, which is hosted by journalist Tom McDermott in conjunction with Claudia’s mother Joan Lawrence.
It hears from a woman – using the pseudonym Lucy – who was previously in a relationship with an abusive partner.
She claims that on one night during a heated argument, her partner threatened to ‘get the gypsies to feed her to the pigs…just like what they did with Claudia Lawrence’.
Lucy also told the podcast that she is adamant her ex is the same person as someone caught on CCTV standing near Claudia’s house on the evening of her disappearance.
The footage shows a dark figure loitering around the entrance of an alleyway behind Claudia’s house – looking like he was waiting to meet someone.
The images, which were timestamped around 7.15pm on March 18, appear incredibly grainy and the man’s features are almost impossible to make out. Although Lucy claims the figure had an identical walk as her partner.
Claudia Lawrence was 35 when she was reported missing after failing to turn up for work at York University on March 18, 2009
Claudia’s father, Peter (pictured together), died in 2021, never knowing what happened to his daughter
Her mother, Joan, continues to hold onto hope that the truth will come out, as she is ‘haunted every day’ by not knowing what happened to her daughter
Lucy told the podcast she made the shocking revelation after being shown the CCTV by her niece.
‘I had a look at it and I thought “Oh my God that’s him walking”,’ she said.
‘That’s how he walked. It’s like a proper step. Whereas I like shuffle a bit more, he’s got a slight stoop. That’s how he would stop exactly. He’s got grey hair as well.
When asked by the podcast producer if she was sure the man in the video was also her ex-partner, she replied: ‘Yes, 100 per cent the same person.’
Later in the episode, Tom tells Joan about Lucy’s claim, which she seems reluctant to believe.
After Tom explains her account, Joan tells him: ‘Yeah but this woman says it’s her husband and somebody else said it was [inaudible].’
Questions over who the identity of the mystery man has never been confirmed, with detectives still believing that establishing his identity could help solve the case.
Lucy had another compelling account that linked her ex-partner to Claudia’s disappearance.
Following enquiries, police were able to uncover this CCTV footage of a man standing near Claudia’s house on the morning of her disappearance
The footage showed a dark figure can be seen loitering around the entrance an alleyway behind Claudia’s house – looking like he was waiting to meet someone
She explained that she was about to buy a flat and had agreed to sign over the rights to her partner, with the promise they would sell the property in five years and share the money.
But Lucy wanted their agreement in writing, which angered her partner and he accused her of not ‘trusting’ him.
‘He got very cross and he was in the hallway. He got me by the scruff of the neck and pinned me against the wall,’ Lucy told the podcast.
‘He said: “Sign the f***ing documents otherwise I will get the gypsies to come and get you. They’ll feed you to the pigs.
“There won’t be any evidence left of you because the pigs eat everything including the bones, just like what they did with Claudia Lawrence.”
‘And he stood back as if to say “I shouldn’t have said that”.
‘And I just went “Oh my God, I’m off” and out the door I went.’
The supposed slip up from her partner has baffled Lucy ever since – and is unable to think of any reason for bringing Claudia up, unless he knew her in some way.
An aerial view of the house of missing Claudia Lawrence on Heworth Road
Police officers outside the home of missing university chef Claudia Lawrence in Heworth, York
‘I just thought why. Why bring her name into it? It was documents I was singing. What does Claudia have to do with these documents?
‘And why say that to me? Unless he knew something about her.
‘Why mention her? I didn’t know Claudia Lawrence. As far as I knew he didn’t know Claudia Lawrence.
‘Because he just threatened me like he usually does, but this time he mentioned her name and that’s made me think he’s got something to do with it.
‘You know when you get a belly drop and a panic. I thought “Oh my God, he’s quite capable because of what he’s done to me”.’
A second chilling incident came when Lucy needed her passport from her partner’s safe and managed to find the key to open it.
Inside, alongside her passport, she found a collection of what appeared to be women’s jewellery.
When Lucy questioned her partner about it, he became defensive and refused to tell her who the jewellery belonged to.
The last definite sighting of Claudia had been the day earlier, after she left work, and called her parents at around 8pm later that evening
‘He seems to keep sentimental things from his exes. There was a bracelet in there and two necklaces in there.
‘At the time I didn’t know anything about it, but when I left, I think there’s a possibility that something in there belongs to Claudia.’
Lucy described one of the necklaces to Claudia’s mother Joan, who believes it sounded like something her daughter would have worn.
Lucy claims she went to North Yorkshire Police with her account and spoke to detectives during a meeting at a police station.
She later repeated her account to officers six months later and was told she wouldn’t hear back about how they would use the information. Lucy claims this is the last time she heard from police.
Claudia was last seen on March 18, 2009, when she walked home from work. Later that evening she called her father Peter and then her mother Joan.
Claudia was said to have sounded normal and relaxed during the call, during which they watched and spoke about the TV programme Location, Location, Location.
She had told her mother she was going to sleep early because her car was in the garage and she would need to walk to a work – a 45-minute journey.
Ms Lawrence (pictured) was 35 when she mysteriously vanished after failing to turn up for work at the University of York on March 18 2009
Claudia’s mother Joan Lawrence has previously said she has been in a ‘living nightmare’ following disappearance 15 years ago
The next day she did not turn up to her 6am shift at the university canteen.
But when her father forced himself in the next day, it seemed as though she had left for work – her used breakfast plates were in the sink, and her chef’s whites, rucksack and mobile phone were all missing.
It is believed that North Yorkshire Police has made 12 arrests since Claudia’s disappearance, but no names of those questioned have been confirmed.
These included a 59-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder in May 2014, as were three men in their 50s in the York area the following April.
A file on four men held on suspicion of murder was sent by North Yorkshire Police to the Crown Prosecution Service in September 15, but the CPS decided in March 2016 that the suspects would not face charges.
The search for Claudia was launched after her friend grew worried when she did not turn up at her local pub The Nag’s Head.
Friends informed Claudia’s father Peter the next day when she still failed to answer any calls. Peter visited her home in the Heworth area of York to find she was nowhere to be seen.
Five weeks after she was reported as a missing person, the case was escalated to a suspected murder investigation – despite her body never being found.
CCTV footage of Claudia on her way home from work on the day of her disappearance
Police officers enter a terraced property in East Parade, Heworth, York as part of the investigation into Claudia Lawrence’s disappearance in 2009
Claudia’s mobile phone – a silver Samsung D900 – and her blue and grey Karrimor rucksack which had her chef’s whites were missing when police searched her house, suggesting she had left for work on the morning of March 19.
These items were also never found.
The last message Claudia sent before her disappearance was at 8.23pm on March 18, around the time she was speaking to her parents.
The final text she received was on the same night at 9.12pm from a friend in Cyprus.
Her phone was then deliberately turned off at around 12.10pm on March 19.
Claudia’s Vauxhall Corsa, which was being repaired at a garage at the time of her disappearance, was also examined by police for clues.
They found an Embassy Regal cigarette butt in the ashtray and forensic tests showed that the DNA profile belonged to a male. It was also believed to have come from a left-handed smoker.
Police hoped that running a DNA match could aid them in getting to the bottom of the case. But despite still periodically running checks through the national DNA database, they have never been able to identify the smoker.
The search for Claudia was launched after her friend grew worried when she did not turn up at her local pub The Nag’s Head (pictured)
An aerial view of Claudia Lawrence’s house which is just metres away from the Nags Head pub
Claudia was not a smoker, but it is understood she had no issue with friends and family smoking while in the car.
Senior investigating officer at North Yorkshire Police, Wayne Fox, told The Times last year that ‘all those known to have been in contact with the car assisted the inquiry and are eliminated on the basis of DNA recovery’.
A motorist reported seeing a man and woman arguing outside the University of York campus at around 6.10am on March 19 – Claudia’s shift was supposed to start at the university’s Goodricke College at 6am.
The witness told police the couple had been arguing next to a parked car which had the passenger-side door opened.
Just half an hour before, at around 5.35am, a cyclist also reported a sighting of a couple near the electricity substation at Melrosegate bridge, which is on Claudia’s route to work.
It was said the man had been smoking a cigarette in his left hand, suggesting there could be a link to the cigarette butt found in Claudia’s car.
Despite several high-profile appeals by the police, the man has never been traced.
The mystery man was described as being 5ft 6in tall, wearing combat trousers and a dark hooded top which covered his face.
In 2021, a search was carried out at Sand Hutton Gravel Pits, near York
Police officers searching the land at Sand Hutton Gravel Pits near York in connection with Claudia Lawrence’s disappearance
The woman, who could have been Claudia, was described as being shorter with dark blonde hair, wearing a white t-shirt, overcoat, jeans and white trainers.
It is believed if information were to come forward about the identity of the smoker, it could be a crucial point in solving the case.
Then, in 2014, police released CCTV footage of what they thought could be ‘highly significant’ in the case.
It showed a vehicle near Claudia’s house on the morning of March 19.
The video revealed an old-style silver Ford Focus driving along Heworth Road around 5.42am. It was seen braking as it approached Claudia’s house.
Police also attempted to trace the owner of white Vauxhall Astra which was also caught on CCTV on the evening of March 18.
The car was parked opposite the road from Claudia’s house, by a Costcutter shop and local chippie, at 9.01pm and remained there for at least 30 minutes.
Detectives tried to track down the owners of the cars, releasing the footage in an appeal for information, but the vehicles were never tracked down.
A detective investigating Claudia’s disappearance holds a bag identical to the one that was missing from her house after she vanished
CCTV footage of a car, believed to be a Ford Focus, near the chef’s home on the day she vanished in March 2009
Police activity around Claudia’s case increased again in 2021 when the force spent two weeks searching a lake and nearby woods just outside York but hopes of a breakthrough were later dashed.
Teams of police experts, search dogs, divers and forensic archaeologists spent two weeks scouring a lake and nearby woods for potential spots where her body could have been left but nothing was found.
That same year, Claudia’s father Peter Lawrence died aged 74. At the time of his illness, he was adamant investigators should continue looking for his daughter whatever happened to him.
Retired solicitor Mr Lawrence had tirelessly campaigned for information to try to find his daughter and had battled for legislation to help families in similar positions.
Mr Lawrence received an OBE for helping to shape the 2017 Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act, known informally as Claudia’s Law.
The law, known informally as Claudia’s Law, created a new legal status of guardian of the affairs of a missing person, allowing someone to act in their best interests after they have been gone for 90 days or more.
The new legislation means families can oversee the financial and property affairs of their missing loved one, if the person has been missing for 90 days – lessening what can be a huge burden at a traumatic time.
