UK UK - Claudia Lawrence, 35, Chef, York University, 18 March 2009 #7

[Yozzer]

We know her phone was switched of on around 12.10pm on the 19th which means it hadnt run out of battery.
We dont know how much battery life the phone still held when it was switched off .
We do not know when the phone was last charged or if it was fully charged.
So the battery life of the phone cannot tell us if she left the house on the evening of the 18th or morning of the 19th because a Samsung D900 handset had the battery life to cover both scenarios as is confirmed by the fact that the phone was switched off and didnt run out of battery.

Not to detract too much but given that there was some suggestion that CL's body might have been buried in the foundations of the College new Science block which would have been substantial, could the weight of poured concrete create enough pressure on the controls of a mobile phone to switch if off.
Previously a photo of a white van parked in a recessed parking bay in Heworth Place was posted on the forum the logo on the van was that of a Concrete Grinding Company who also specialised in laying concrete floors could the depth and weight of a concrete floor also have the same effect when poured on a mobile device

Yes thanks @keep-it-real - you just got there before my amended entry re phone charging!
Re the concrete theory, is it likely NYP would have tested this theory during their investigations?

 

[Popejohn3]

I'm going to contradict myself here. I now think Malyn wasn't suggesting her phone hadn't been charged - quite the opposite. He was saying that it had to be switched off on 19th because it was still functioning when the manager phoned her at 10.00. He was making the point that it had been explicitly detached. Which muddies the timeline. However, if most who knew her were surprised there were no further texts after 8.30 approx., it does suggest there was an incident later that evening IMO.

I think she went to bed early as she told her mother she was going to .She had very little sleep the night before.
She was probably given a lift in a reddish lhd car.Told her newish boyfriend she was planning to go to Cyprus.He realises she was a free spirited young lady , they argued but she went or dragged back into the car .

 

[MajorLang]

We know her phone was switched of on around 12.10pm on the 19th which means it hadnt run out of battery.
We dont know how much battery life the phone still held when it was switched off .
We do not know when the phone was last charged or if it was fully charged.
So the battery life of the phone cannot tell us if she left the house on the evening of the 18th or morning of the 19th because a Samsung D900 handset had the battery life to cover both scenarios as is confirmed by the fact that the phone was switched off and didnt run out of battery.

Not to detract too much but given that there was some suggestion that CL's body might have been buried in the foundations of the College new Science block which would have been substantial, could the weight of poured concrete create enough pressure on the controls of a mobile phone to switch if off.
Previously a photo of a white van parked in a recessed parking bay in Heworth Place was posted on the forum the logo on the van was that of a Concrete Grinding Company who also specialised in laying concrete floors could the depth and weight of a concrete floor also have the same effect when poured on a mobile device

Can I confirm that you mean Heworth PLACE rather than Heworth ROAD?
What time was the van seen. I am thinking of the one at 21:00 seen by the Bus cctv outside the chip shop / Travel agents.

 

[keep-it-real]

[/QUOTE]
Re the concrete theory, is it likely NYP would have tested this theory during their investigations?
hmm .. Its unlikely too in afraid

 

[keep-it-real]

Can I confirm that you mean Heworth PLACE rather than Heworth ROAD?
What time was the van seen. I am thinking of the one at 21:00 seen by the Bus cctv outside the chip shop / Travel agents.

I couldnt make out any logos for identifaction on the white van outside Quartz Travel on the 18th.
Here's a photo of the white van parked in Heworth Place 'Concrete Grinding company' It was posted here sometime back I found this photo on google maps street walk through but the year doesnt fit for CL's disappearance.. its worth noting tho as its possible that if the this company van belongs to someone who lives in Heworth place they may have worked for this company in 2009 and had a similar company vehicle
(Is there any connection to a company doing this and the Ruannes?)

 

[Popejohn3]

I think she went to bed early as she told her mother she was going to .She had very little sleep the night before.
She was probably given a lift in a reddish lhd car.Told her newish boyfriend she was planning to go to Cyprus.He realises she was a free spirited young lady , they argued but she went or dragged back into the car .

Now I am assuming this was not planned .
You sit and think .Do I go to the police ?
After all it was an accident .if I did ( go to the police) my wife would find out .
Now I could take her to the river or somewhere far and desolate.
I decide for the later option .
Now I’d better go buy ( this was not planned ) digging equipment like a shovel gloves and plastic bags because I won’t find these in the country side or the moors .
Now where would I go to buy these ?

 

[keep-it-real]

I think she went to bed early as she told her mother she was going to .She had very little sleep the night before.
She was probably given a lift in a reddish lhd car.Told her newish boyfriend she was planning to go to Cyprus.He realises she was a free spirited young lady , they argued but she went or dragged back into the car .

I think you are confusing the nite of the 17th with the nite of the 16th PJ.. Claudia had little or no sleep the evening of the 16th.

 

[keep-it-real]

Was Claudia able to take pictures using her phone ?

Just out of interest heres a review of the Samsung D900

 

[Popejohn3]

I think you are confusing the nite of the 17th with the nite of the 16th PJ.. Claudia had little or no sleep the evening of the 16th.

Agree but I know it takes me a few days to recover from n all-nighter

 

[keep-it-real]

I think you are confusing the nite of the 17th with the nite of the 16th PJ.. Claudia had little or no sleep the evening of the 16th.

I wonder why all outbound text and calls ceased after she poke with her parents at approx 8.25pm tho PJ, Steve said it was unusual for her not to text back and nothing the next day comlete silence up to 12.10pm when the phone was switched off

 

[keep-it-real]

Agree but I know it takes me a few days to recover from n all-nighter

Youre such a light weight lol

 

[keep-it-real]

I’m sorry but I honestly believe both of the sightings in the morning were that of Claudia and her abductor .The fact no one has ever came forward to claim it was them that speaks volumes .[/QUOTE]

Like you I have to consider witness sighting seriously and I have plenty of questions I would like to ask those witnesses.
But that aside can I ask you if you have any ideas of the route the red car travelled. Police featured it as a strong lead and they had some idea of the time it was seen so I would have thought they would have scoured the cctv footage in all directions leading to and from the college to track where it came from and where it went.

 

[Yozzer]

[

its worth noting tho as its possible that if the this company van belongs to someone who lives in Heworth place they may have worked for this company in 2009 and had a similar company vehicle
(Is there any connection to a company doing this and the Rs?)

I would imagine *that* company could procure most industrial services and you would certainly need a concrete specialist for civil engineering/construction works.

 

[Yozzer]

Popejohn3 I’m sorry but I honestly believe both of the sightings in the morning were that of Claudia and her abductor .The fact no one has ever came forward to claim it was them that speaks volumes .[/QUOTE]

Keep-it-real Like you I have to consider witness sighting seriously and I have plenty of questions I would like to ask those witnesses. [/QUOTE]

Regarding the couple seen at Melrosegate:

There is a person walking towards the university at approx 1m 51s on this video:
Last known movements of Claudia Lawrence

I always assumed it was a male but looking again at the gait and build, it could be a female in a waist length jacket. I don't believe it's CL because the hair length is too short IMO but it might account for the sighting reported at the substation which is about 5 mins earlier on that route. Police would be able to work out whether this would be possible from timings.
I am less surprised at the lack of response from the public to this sighting as it was in such a student-populated area of York; the local student population is very transient and would not necessarily tune into appeals as readily, particularly international students of which there were thousands. I guess what I am suggesting is that this could have been an 'innocent' encounter and if it was a drug deal, it is unlikely they would come forward willingly as many York Uni students have affluent parents funding their education who would not take kindly to learning that their offspring are engaging in illicit activity. IMO.

 

[Andyboy]

Now I am assuming this was not planned .
You sit and think .Do I go to the police ?
After all it was an accident .if I did ( go to the police) my wife would find out .
Now I could take her to the river or somewhere far and desolate.
I decide for the later option .
Now I’d better go buy ( this was not planned ) digging equipment like a shovel gloves and plastic bags because I won’t find these in the country side or the moors .
Now where would I go to buy these ?

If it was an accident would you really manhandle her body into a vehicle then find a secluded spot, dig a deep hole then Bury her, indignant wife or not

 

[Popejohn3]

If it was an accident would you really manhandle her body into a vehicle then find a secluded spot, dig a deep hole then Bury her, indignant wife or not

Well yes ! And I’m sure 1000s think that is exactly what happened !
What do you think happened then @Andyboy ?

 

[Popejohn3]

I’m sorry but I honestly believe both of the sightings in the morning were that of Claudia and her abductor .The fact no one has ever came forward to claim it was them that speaks volumes .

Like you I have to consider witness sighting seriously and I have plenty of questions I would like to ask those witnesses.
But that aside can I ask you if you have any ideas of the route the red car travelled. Police featured it as a strong lead and they had some idea of the time it was seen so I would have thought they would have scoured the cctv footage in all directions leading to and from the college to track where it came from and where it went.
[/QUOTE]
The police checked out over 1000 vehicles .I would have thought the cctv either side of the spot ( where the red car was seen) would have played an important part.
The timing is crucial especially if reported by someone on a routine trip ie work .The nearest cameras would have had to pick up the registration numbers . But this is also limited by how good the ‘trap’ was .ie how many exits not covered by cctv ?

 

[Andyboy]

Well yes ! And I’m sure 1000s think that is exactly what happened !
What do you think happened then @Andyboy ?

I think she fatally annoyed the wrong person or people and they callously killed her

 

[keep-it-real]

Here's the relevant extract from an article in the Mail on 21/9/2009.

By VANESSA ALLEN FOR THE DAILY MAIL and NICK MCDERMOTT FOR MAILONLINE
UPDATED: 11:50, 21 September 2009

Mr Whitehand, 34, said: 'My first reaction when Claudia didn't turn up after a couple of days was that the police should be looking in Cyprus.'
The pair split up in 2006 but stayed in contact and last October-she told him she was with a bar owner they had met in the resort of Coral Bay near Paphos.
He said: 'She was out there on her own and she'd met up with him. He wasn't the kind of guy she should have been visiting on her own.
'He's not someone I would have liked to get on the wrong side of. He could be quite intimidating. He was maybe 45 to 50 and owned a lot of businesses.'

Was he in the UK at the time of CL's disappearance?
What make and model were the vans that were being transported from Scotland to Cyprus?

 

[MajorLang]

Was he in the UK at the time of CL's disappearance?
What make and model were the vans that were being transported from Scotland to Cyprus?

Robbie Campbell was in U.K. at the time of her disappearance and there has been no mention of the type of vans.
I understand that the trip commenced in Glasgow, Robbie's home town and proceeded down the west coast of UK. It is mentioned that Liverpool was a stopping off point???? (Later mentioned as the centre of a major drugs bust in 2019 that had been ongoing for many years).

Robbie states in the press article that whilst he passed York he didn't stop.
For them to pass York after stopping at Liverpool would suggest that they were heading for one of the South Easterly ports for departure.
Were they stopping gun Liverpool to collect something coming in from Ireland?
The other option would be a South Westerly port to Northern Spain / France.

The report talks about how they arrived at Cyprus via Italy.

Were there reasons for them making these stops:
Liverpool
Italy

I am unaware of the most direct sea route via scheduled shipping to Cyprus but were they going the long way round by stopping in Italy.
Liverpool is less of a detour as anyone heading to a South East port from Glasgow would do A74 / M6 / M1 then across through Cambridgeshire to either pick up M11 and southerly for South East Ports or through East Anglia for Felixstowe.


I wonder why they didn't use the Northerly port at Newcastle to Netherlands and through Belgium / Germany onwards to Italy?

Did the police look at the route and why they had chosen this route with the prescribed stop off points and did they inquire into why a Bar worker / owner was trading in vehicles?