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

[Ruthbullock]

Missing Claudia's 46th birthday marked today
So sad, but she’s still in the locals thoughts

 

[samuel66]

Just in case anyone missed my edit, the CCTV footage here Last known movements of Claudia Lawrence shows Claudia coming from the south, posting a letter then continuing on her way which points to @MajorLang having the correct version of events.

 

[MajorLang]

Having read both the excellent work done by @MajorLang and the book "Gone:the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence" I noticed what looks like a large discrepancy between the accounts of the day prior to her disappearance. If I've read and understood it right:

@MajorLang says: Claudia sets off from the university to walk home. Half way back to her house she stops to post a letter in a postbox in Melrosegate. Continuing on her way, she is given a lift the rest of the way home by a woman called Jo. Later that afternoon a woman called Linda sees Claudia out in the area of the local shops.

Gone - the disappearance book says: Claudia sets out from the university and is almost immediately given a lift by a woman called Jo. After having been driven back home, later that afternoon Claudia sets out again on foot, is seen by a woman called Linda walking past the Nags Head, whereupon she walks back down to Melrosegate to post a letter.

Very different accounts and different order of events! Does anyone have any other accounts or evidence to say which is the correct version of events? I'm working on something but it relies somewhat on getting the order of these events correct. Thanks.

My account has to be correct as she is seen on CCTV walking home from work at Uni and see to post a letter.
Police publish this cctv on their website.
I even know the area where Claudia was picked up by Jo as the area was shown on a crimewatch reconstruction and identifiable, again I highlight this in my blog.
If Claudia was almost immediately given a lift home by Jo stated in Gone. Then she would not have been seen at postbox.
The point Jo picks her up is after the post office and about half way home.
To support this, Claudia was seen on Ini cctv cutting through the car park and towards the cut through to University Road where she would then pick up Melrosegate. So where could she have them been picked up almost immediately Mr Root? (Author of Gone)
She drops her off at her door, Claudia goes inside her house before coming back out and being seen by Linda the childminder.

My experience of Gone book is that in my opinion it has inaccuracies and doesn't challenge or reveal more sensitive information???
That is why I was motivated to write my Blog.
What you also have to consider is that anything published in Gone would have had to have been agreed by Martin Dales a friend of Peter and handling PR for him.
I thought that was rather strange as it is important that all known facts are presented to the public.

 

[samuel66]

My account has to be correct as she is seen on CCTV walking home from work at Uni and see to post a letter.
Police publish this cctv on their website.
I even know the area where Claudia was picked up by Jo as the area was shown on a crimewatch reconstruction and identifiable, again I highlight this in my blog.
If Claudia was almost immediately given a lift home by Jo stated in Gone. Then she would not have been seen at postbox.
The point Jo picks her up is after the post office and about half way home.
To support this, Claudia was seen on Ini cctv cutting through the car park and towards the cut through to University Road where she would then pick up Melrosegate. So where could she have them been picked up almost immediately Mr Root? (Author of Gone)
She drops her off at her door, Claudia goes inside her house before coming back out and being seen by Linda the childminder.

My experience of Gone book is that in my opinion it has inaccuracies and doesn't challenge or reveal more sensitive information???
That is why I was motivated to write my Blog.
What you also have to consider is that anything published in Gone would have had to have been agreed by Martin Dales a friend of Peter and handling PR for him.
I thought that was rather strange as it is important that all known facts are presented to the public.

Yes, having reviewed the CCTV footage I also believe your account to be correct. If nothing else, this should flag up a warning for us all to not take everything we read in "Gone" as accurate. And while I'm on, a big thank you for your excellent work so far. I hope I can add some original thinking to the discussion.

 

[MajorLang]

Yes, having reviewed the CCTV footage I also believe your account to be correct. If nothing else, this should flag up a warning for us all to not take everything we read in "Gone" as accurate. And while I'm on, a big thank you for your excellent work so far. I hope I can add some original thinking to the discussion.

Sounds great
Always happy to add any new facts to blog so that it helps us all

 

[Popejohn3]

Missing Claudia's 46th birthday marked today
So sad, but she’s still in the locals thoughts

And people not so local okay ? !

 

[Popejohn3]

My account has to be correct as she is seen on CCTV walking home from work at Uni and see to post a letter.
Police publish this cctv on their website.
I even know the area where Claudia was picked up by Jo as the area was shown on a crimewatch reconstruction and identifiable, again I highlight this in my blog.
If Claudia was almost immediately given a lift home by Jo stated in Gone. Then she would not have been seen at postbox.
The point Jo picks her up is after the post office and about half way home.
To support this, Claudia was seen on Ini cctv cutting through the car park and towards the cut through to University Road where she would then pick up Melrosegate. So where could she have them been picked up almost immediately Mr Root? (Author of Gone)
She drops her off at her door, Claudia goes inside her house before coming back out and being seen by Linda the childminder.

My experience of Gone book is that in my opinion it has inaccuracies and doesn't challenge or reveal more sensitive information???
That is why I was motivated to write my Blog.
What you also have to consider is that anything published in Gone would have had to have been agreed by Martin Dales a friend of Peter and handling PR for him.
I thought that was rather strange as it is important that all known facts are presented to the public.

It’s important to remember that Gone is a bit like work in progress and unlike your great piece of work , cannot be amended unless they come out with a new edition .

 

[samuel66]

Re the timing of Claudia's visit to Melrosegate to post the letter, it is possible using a website sunearthtools.com to show where the sun was in the sky at any particular date and time. Remember that at the time Claudia went missing we were still in GMT and had not put the clocks forward for summer. Putting in the co-ordinates of the post box and a time/date shows the position of the sun over York. I then overlaid it over the post box in photoshop. Comparing it with the shadows of the bollards in the CCTV footage does appear to me to time it around 14:47, the time that MajorLang had calculated

 

[samuel66]

and the overlay

 

[keep-it-real]

Re the timing of Claudia's visit to Melrosegate to post the letter, it is possible using a website sunearthtools.com to show where the sun was in the sky at any particular date and time. Remember that at the time Claudia went missing we were still in GMT and had not put the clocks forward for summer. Putting in the co-ordinates of the post box and a time/date shows the position of the sun over York. I then overlaid it over the post box in photoshop. Comparing it with the shadows of the bollards in the CCTV footage does appear to me to time it around 14:47, the time that MajorLang had calculated
View attachment 234845

On the North Yorkshire Police webage for Claudia's Case it gives a timeline. This timeline shows events and key lines of enquiry from the days surrounding Claudia's disappearance.
Timeline
18 March, 14:31 – Claudia leaves work

18 March, 14:35 – 14:36 – Claudia walks through university campus

18 March, 14:47 – Claudia walks home and appears to post something

18 March, 19:27 – 21:12 Claudia uses her telephone

18 March, 21:01 – White Vauxhall Astra Van parked near Claudia’s home

19 March, 05:35 – Left handed smoker – seen with a woman on Melrosegate bridge

19 March, 05:42 – Old-style light coloured Ford Focus seen braking outside Claudia’s home

19 March, 06:00 – Claudia fails to turn up for work

19 March, 06:10 – Man and woman seen arguing outside University of York

19 March, 06:45 – 06:55 – Man seen outside Claudia’s house

19 March, 12:10 – Claudia’s mobile phone is switched off.

20 March, 14:07 – Claudia is reported missing by her father, Peter Lawrence

 

[keep-it-real]

Just in case anyone missed my edit, the CCTV footage here Last known movements of Claudia Lawrence shows Claudia coming from the south, posting a letter then continuing on her way which points to @MajorLang having the correct version of events.

I noticed the guy walking to wards the camera at o2.10 appears to to me to be smoking left handed.

 

[samuel66]

I noticed the guy walking to wards the camera at o2.10 appears to to me to be smoking left handed.

I've wondered if the significance of the "left handed" aspect is overstated. For sure, left handed people are in the minority. But I've known many right handed people who would hold their cigarettes in their left hand in much the same way that many right handed people (like me) hold their mobile phones in their left hand - it leaves their dominant hand free to do other things. So the left handed smoker is probably a right handed person like most of us.

 

[samuel66]

On the North Yorkshire Police webage for Claudia's Case it gives a timeline. This timeline shows events and key lines of enquiry from the days surrounding Claudia's disappearance.
Timeline
18 March, 14:31 – Claudia leaves work

18 March, 14:35 – 14:36 – Claudia walks through university campus

18 March, 14:47 – Claudia walks home and appears to post something

18 March, 19:27 – 21:12 Claudia uses her telephone

18 March, 21:01 – White Vauxhall Astra Van parked near Claudia’s home

19 March, 05:35 – Left handed smoker – seen with a woman on Melrosegate bridge

19 March, 05:42 – Old-style light coloured Ford Focus seen braking outside Claudia’s home

19 March, 06:00 – Claudia fails to turn up for work

19 March, 06:10 – Man and woman seen arguing outside University of York

19 March, 06:45 – 06:55 – Man seen outside Claudia’s house

19 March, 12:10 – Claudia’s mobile phone is switched off.

20 March, 14:07 – Claudia is reported missing by her father, Peter Lawrence

Maybe I've watched too many cliched detective shows on the telly, but I've never trusted timestamps etc on CCTV footage, the camera owners may have set the wrong time on the system by accident or they may have forgotten to adjust for British Summer Time etc etc so I always look for substantiating evidence that the timestamp is correct, eg like the size and direction of shadows. This one appears to check out. I would imagine (or at least hope) North Yorkshire Police would as a matter of course have applied the same checks.

 

[keep-it-real]

I've wondered if the significance of the "left handed" aspect is overstated. For sure, left handed people are in the minority. But I've known many right handed people who would hold their cigarettes in their left hand in much the same way that many right handed people (like me) hold their mobile phones in their left hand - it leaves their dominant hand free to do other things. So the left handed smoker is probably a right handed person like most of us.

Yes its a valid point..Ive noticed some smokers will change which side they stand if smoking and standing next to a non smoker to divert the smoke, but thought it worth noting as hes not using his right hand for anything and hes not in company.

 

[Ruthbullock]

And people not so local okay ? !

Bit rude after you misinterpreted my post! Merely posted as they do regularly try to still keep it in the local press here.

 

[samuel66]

Here's another little brain-tickler related to "post boxes". (Now, please be VERY careful about jumping to conclusions as York University has undergone some colossal changes and modernisation in the last 10 years.) But take a look at this website which shows the entrance to the Roger Kirk centre where Claudia worked. What do we notice almost slap bang outside the door where Claudia would have walked in and out ? Roger Kirk Centre - York Conferences

(@MajorLang from what I can tell/remember both the Roger Kirk Centre and the student union building were built around the same time on the old Goodricke college site around 2004 which if so would imply that at the time Claudia was working there, there was a post box next to the building she worked in. Maybe she was just in a hurry to leave work after a hard day)

 

[Popejohn3]

Bit rude after you misinterpreted my post! Merely posted as they do regularly try to still keep it in the local press here.

Sorry did not mean to be rude I was mainly referring to myself for one plus ...
One of the police experts in machiny ( ?) show thought that the ‘dark’ man at the back of CL house was not local !

 

[Popejohn3]

Here's another little brain-tickler related to "post boxes". (Now, please be VERY careful about jumping to conclusions as York University has undergone some colossal changes and modernisation in the last 10 years.) But take a look at this website which shows the entrance to the Roger Kirk centre where Claudia worked. What do we notice almost slap bang outside the door where Claudia would have walked in and out ? Roger Kirk Centre - York Conferences

You tell us ...was that post box there in 2009 ?

 

[samuel66]

You tell us ...was that post box there in 2009 ?

From what I recall and can dig out on Google, the old Goodricke college site underwent a re-vamp around 2003/2004 when the Roger Kirk centre and new Student Union building were built. If so, it would imply the post box *had* been there in Claudia's day.

 

[MajorLang]

It’s important to remember that Gone is a bit like work in progress and unlike your great piece of work , cannot be amended unless they come out with a new edition .

Yes but any future editions would still be censored by Dales