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

[MajorLang]

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

That's a good tool-excellent work

 

[Popejohn3]

Duplication

 

[Popejohn3]

You know the co op man told the staff he knew her or worked with her
Now if it was ‘ worked with her ‘ would also mean others worked with him too !
Someone should be able to name him
But ‘shop’ people could be economical with other facts because they are sitting ducks.
This person would know exactly where to find them.
It was a fairly clear picture of him now was he a regular ? Did the police search through all coop tapes ? Could Claudia have been in that shop with him previously?

Yes but any future editions would still be censored by Dales

i would hope that Dales would not leave out important facts that might help find Claudia

 

[samuel66]

You know the co op man told the staff he knew her or worked with her
Now if it was ‘ worked with her ‘ would also mean others worked with him too !
Someone should be able to name him
But ‘shop’ people could be economical with other facts because they are sitting ducks.
This person would know exactly where to find them.
It was a fairly clear picture of him now was he a regular ? Did the police search through all coop tapes ? Could Claudia have been in that shop with him previously?

i would hope that Dales would not leave out important facts that might help find Claudia

Here's "the man in the co-op" next to the CCTV footage from Melrosegate post office. The middle photo is from the CCTV unretouched. But, knowing that the post box was red, I've been able to use it as a reference to retouch in photoshop which gives us the right hand picture. The photo does seem to show a dark skinned young-ish man wearing a light coloured baseball cap, blue jeans and white trainers just like the description of the Tang Hall co-op guy. Note that Tang Hall co-op is off to the right of this photo ie from where the CCTVman is coming from. Click the thumbnail to expand the picture @MajorLang you might find this a useful addition to the blog, if so please feel free to use it

 

[Popejohn3]

Here's "the man in the co-op" next to the CCTV footage from Melrosegate post office. The middle photo is from the CCTV unretouched. But, knowing that the post box was red, I've been able to use it as a reference to retouch in photoshop which gives us the right hand picture. The photo does seem to show a dark skinned young-ish man wearing a light coloured baseball cap. Note that Tang Hall co-op is off to the right of this photo ie from where the CCTVman is coming from. Click the thumbnail to expand the picture @MajorLang you might find this a useful addition to the blog

View attachment 234909

Plus I would mind betting that one or more of the co op staff is / are on here !
And can anyone tell us what brought the conversation on to Claudia?
Presumably a newspaper photo?

 

[Ruthbullock]

Here's "the man in the co-op" next to the CCTV footage from Melrosegate post office. The middle photo is from the CCTV unretouched. But, knowing that the post box was red, I've been able to use it as a reference to retouch in photoshop which gives us the right hand picture. The photo does seem to show a dark skinned young-ish man wearing a light coloured baseball cap, blue jeans and white trainers just like the description of the Tang Hall co-op guy. Note that Tang Hall co-op is off to the right of this photo ie from where the CCTVman is coming from. Click the thumbnail to expand the picture @MajorLang you might find this a useful addition to the blog

View attachment 234909

You may want to revise your naming of the co ops- there is one via Melrosegate to the nags head ( Heworth coop) and another over in tang hall. I am tired tonight, so too lazy to look- but you impress me, but also confuse my tired brain.

 

[samuel66]

You may want to revise your naming of the co ops- there is one via Melrosegate to the nags head ( Heworth coop) and another over in tang hall. I am tired tonight, so too lazy to look- but you impress me, but also confuse my tired brain.

Thanks for the compliment! The wording in the report Tang Hall - man in Co-op said he Knew Claudia. talked of "the Co-Op store at Tang Hall" which I took to be this one on Tang Hall Lane

And for completeness for those who don't know the area, here's the Heworth co-op (note, the man who said he knew Claudia was in the Tang Hall one) In what seems to be a recurring theme this evening, note that it is next to a post office

 

[Ruthbullock]

Thanks for the compliment! The wording in the report Tang Hall - man in Co-op said he Knew Claudia. talked of "the Co-Op store at Tang Hall" which I took to be this one on Tang Hall Lane
View attachment 234911

I still don’t get the link with this man, or this shop- there must be something we don’t know. I know several people who have said similar- but are not on the police appeals

 

[keep-it-real]

Here's "the man in the co-op" next to the CCTV footage from Melrosegate post office. The middle photo is from the CCTV unretouched. But, knowing that the post box was red, I've been able to use it as a reference to retouch in photoshop which gives us the right hand picture. The photo does seem to show a dark skinned young-ish man wearing a light coloured baseball cap, blue jeans and white trainers just like the description of the Tang Hall co-op guy. Note that Tang Hall co-op is off to the right of this photo ie from where the CCTVman is coming from. Click the thumbnail to expand the picture @MajorLang you might find this a useful addition to the blog, if so please feel free to use it
Its difficult to compare as we are not not shown the Tang Hall guy in motion but honestly he looks quite a fit guy, I wouldnt be surprised if he had known CL from her nites out at nightclubs or bars in the city centre.
The guy who walks past Melrosegate post box has a definate has a lumbering walk either that or hes drunk.
heres the bus cam photo of the truck outside CL's on the evening of the 18th check outthe figure ringed in red

 

[keep-it-real]

Plus I would mind betting that one or more of the co op staff is / are on here !
And can anyone tell us what brought the conversation on to Claudia?
Presumably a newspaper photo?

Did he make a purchase/purchases and how did he pay .. payment by card maybe?

 

[samuel66]

I still don’t get the link with this man, or this shop- there must be something we don’t know. I know several people who have said similar- but are not on the police appeals

It seems you're already very familiar with York - but for those on here who are not, I'll just point out that on Claudia's route to and from work she practically passes Tang Hall Co-op which is reached by going down a side street from Melrosegate

 

[samuel66]

Did he make a purchase/purchases and how did he pay .. payment by card maybe?

I think I can answer both your questions. From the CCTV footage it does indeed look like he scans the newspaper rack and then buys a newspaper, (and from what I can see, he buys nothing else). For such a small sum I'd guess it was most likely that he paid cash.

May be a red herring, but he did come out with this on the morning of April 1st ie April Fool's Day.

 

[Ruthbullock]

Thanks for the compliment! The wording in the report Tang Hall - man in Co-op said he Knew Claudia. talked of "the Co-Op store at Tang Hall" which I took to be this one on Tang Hall Lane
View attachment 234911
And for completeness for those who don't know the area, here's the Heworth co-op (note, the man who said he knew Claudia was in the Tang Hall one) In what seems to be a recurring theme this evening, note that it is next to a post office
View attachment 234913

There’s also a post office in the tang hall coop- but I’m sill obviously missing the point

 

[keep-it-real]

I think I can answer both your questions. From the CCTV footage it does indeed look like he scans the newspaper rack and then buys a newspaper, (and from what I can see, he buys nothing else). For such a small sum I'd guess it was most likely that he paid cash.

Unless he bought cigarettes which would be behind the counter.. I dont know where the liquor/beer is in this store as some stores this is behind the counter too

 

[Ruthbullock]

It seems you're already very familiar with York - but for those on here who are not, I'll just point out that on Claudia's route to and from work she practically passes Tang Hall Co-op which is reached by going down a side street from Melrosegate
View attachment 234915

It would honestly be one or the other, you really wouldn’t cut through as you describe.

 

[samuel66]

There’s also a post office in the tang hall coop- but I’m sill obviously missing the point

Earlier this evening, I'd just mentioned that right outside the door of the Roger Kirk centre where Claudia worked was a post box and had mused as to why she'd not used that one to post her letter on the way home the previous afternoon

 

[samuel66]

It would honestly be one or the other, you really wouldn’t cut through as you describe.

No, I'm not saying you would, I was just pointing out the proximity for the benefit of those on the boards who are not so familiar with that area of York, that's all.

 

[keep-it-real]

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.

There may be a variety of reasons why she posted the letter Melrosegate and ignored opportunities to use other boxes on her journey, but I dont see what difference the choice of location of the mailbox she used really changes anything. She posted the letter we have proof of where she posted it and when she posted it, the only unanswered question is what was the contents of the letter.
I know the main sorting office would have franked the letter so the envelope would bear details of the area it was mailed. I dont know if all the sorting offices are computerised and how much detail is stored on their systems regarding the being able to track a letters journey from one sorting office to another via the franking stamp.. there is of course track and trace but this would have to be dealt with by the sender over the counter at the post office at time of mailing.. I also understand business reply envelops are not stamped.

 

[samuel66]

There may be a variety of reasons why she posted the letter Melrosegate and ignored opportunities to use other boxes on her journey, but I dont see what difference the choice of location of the mailbox she used really changes anything. She posted the letter we have proof of where she posted it and when she posted it, the only unanswered question is what was the contents of the letter

It doesn't really, hehe, anyway it's your fault, it was while I was looking at Google Street View pics to answer your earlier question that I just happened to notice it, also we'd just been discussing post boxes As for the contents of the letter, given that nobody appears to have come forward saying they received it (which given the huge amount of publicity at the time, you'd think you would notice it) then unless it was for dubious purposes, it could have been something basic like entering a crossword competition or spot-the-ball competition in the local paper, where the newspaper office gets thousands of replies, draws one out of a hat and then throws the rest in the bin without looking at them.

 

[keep-it-real]

It doesn't really, hehe, anyway it's your fault, it was while I was looking at Google Street View pics to answer your earlier question that I just happened to notice it, also we'd just been discussing post boxes As for the contents of the letter, given that nobody appears to have come forward saying they received it (which given the huge amount of publicity at the time, you'd think you would notice it) then unless it was for dubious purposes, it could have been something basic like entering a crossword competition or spot-the-ball competition in the local paper, where the newspaper office gets thousands of replies, draws one out of a hat and then throws the rest in the bin without looking at them.

I know .. anyway its all interesting stuff