Her mum believes the house has been broken into
Heartbreaking pictures show how missing Claudia Lawrence’s home has been left virtually untouched since the day she disappeared 16 years ago.
On March 18, 2009, Claudia did not turn up to work, sparking one of the most well-known searches in police history. To this day, Claudia has never been found.
Since she vanished, Claudia’s mum, Joan Lawrence, has kept her home the same, with her clothes still hanging up in the closet and her things remain strewn about. While the police have investigated the house, it has stood empty ever since her disappearance.
Over the years Joan has spoken about the possibility of setting up some sort of charity to help people using the house, but for now it remains empty, filled with reminders of Claudia and the life she lived there, reports Yorkshire Live.
Mrs Lawrence, 81, said this week she was ‘absolutely shell-shocked’ after discovering her missing daughter’s home has been broken into by a mystery intruder – not once but twice.
In bombshell developments described as “frightening,” Joan believes a raider may have targeted her daughter’s home after she revealed a secret attic and new evidence.
The mum was horrified when an internal door she “meticulously” locks was left wide open, the front door lock was scratched and bent, a shelf unit moved, clothes missing from Claudia’s wardrobe and the attic hatch damaged and “tampered” with.
Claudia was 35 when she vanished without a trace after failing to turn up to work at York University, prompting one of the biggest unsolved murder cases in the UK.
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Her breakfast bowls had been left in the kitchen sink and the slippers by the door. Since then her home has been left a ‘time warp’ with her clothes and belongings just waiting.
Mrs Lawrence regularly visits the home as a condition of the house insurance and in January 3rd this year she found a tiny attic hatch tucked away in a built-in wardrobe inside Claudia’s bedroom. She made the discovery after visiting the home with journalist and ‘Answers for Claudia’ podcaster Tom McDermott.
They also found a tissue and a packet of half used chewing gum inside a black leather jacket, which they believe could hold vital DNA clues. But when Joan returned a few days after the release of the podcast episode which talked about the find and coverage in the Mirror on February 27th, she was horrified to discover someone may have been inside the two-bed house.
Joan said: “I was absolutely shellshocked…I got one hell of a shock. I still don’t know how they got in. It makes me feel a bit creepy going there on my own, that somebody’s been in. I will go in daylight. It’s made me really nervous and I can’t go in the house on my own now.”
Evidence there may have been a second raid was then uncovered, reports The Mirror.
Journalist and ‘Answers for Claudia’ podcaster Tom, who has been working alongside Joan for two years, said he has also been “shaken” by it describing it as “frightening” said there was someone out there clearly “rattled”. And he said he was further “speechless” after finding evidence of a second break-in.
“I think someone is getting nervous out there. In episode nine in an episode called ‘Moving the Dial’ we revealed the attic had been found. Now we’ve had a double disturbance at Claudia’s house. Somebody is clearly very rattled.”
Despite Joan and Tom both reporting each incident, North Yorkshire Police have yet to visit the premises to investigate, which Joan says does “not surprise” her. Tom told us: “We’ve reported both incidents to the police, they want to speak to Joan and arrange a time to visit. “ The Mirror understands the senior investigating officer in the case is planning to visit the home after Joan agreed to meet him.