UK UK - Claudia Lawrence, 35, York University, 18 March 2009 - Chef - #1

[Yozzer]

'Friends of Mr Cartwright, who used to work in a railway carriage workshop and never married, said he was an early riser, often going to maintain properties in the area. 'It's a perfectly understandable thing for him to have been there,' said Edward Bacon.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205438/Claudia-hunt-man-died-disappeared.html

 

[Robin Hood]

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/465..._a_suspect_in_Claudia_Lawrence_investigation/

''Mr Cartwright grew up in Heworth and joined York Carriageworks at the age of 15 after leaving school. He was to remain there until the operation was closed down in 1996 and went on to work at Rowntrees for a stint.''

''Richard Cartwright, whose homes in East Parade, Heworth, were searched last month by police officers investigating the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence.''

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/453...d_owner_of_houses_in_Claudia_Lawrence_search/

''He also had a night job, cleaning railway carriages at York Station.''

 

[Robin Hood]

I wonder if the deceased landlord, who was identified by police as probably being the male in the original cctv, owned any property in Heworth Place? I recall his former workmate saying he thought he had owned several properties in the York area. I can't see a cut-through to East Parade (where he owned 2 properties) unless I'm missing something, so wondered why he would use this route.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/453...Claudia_s_home_on_day_she_disappeared/?ref=ar

''I can't see a cut-through to East Parade (where he owned 2 properties) unless I'm missing something, so wondered why he would use this route''

I can't see why either.

 

[ellie b]

It's clear that there are people that have kept very quiet about their knowledge of Claudia, her associations and her movements. The Police have been flying blind on this since day one. You can be assured that they have dug out every piece of CCTV they could find on the route between her home and work.

Pretty much any theory of when she 'disappeared' in the time between her last phone call and her phone being turned off can be made to fit. There is little evidence to contradict anything you can come up with.

The fact that her hair straighteners are missing has to me always suggested that she packed an overnight bag and stayed somewhere else (or at least intended to).

I have to agree that the fact that her rucksack/bag, chef's whites and hair straighteners were missing probably indicates that she intended spending the night elsewhere then going straight to work. IMO

The police have implied that some people may have lied to them or withheld information.....hmm difficult to work with false information.

If Claudia did infact leave her house after her phone call with her mother it may be impossible to find out where she went if she left on foot, could she have been picked up in a vehicle ?

I truly hope Claudia's family will eventually find out the truth, I can't imagine the devastation they must feel.

 

[Yozzer]

The police looked closely at what was happening in Heworth Road that Wednesday evening. I recall a cctv from a bus focusing on a white Vauxhall Astra parked opposite the pub. I also remember reading about an indignant male neighbour who lived on the same row as Claudia, whose door was smashed in by the police and his house turned over while he was absent. Added to that the searches of the pub and its upstairs rooms and the various other property searches and interviews, they really need someone (a suspicious wife or partner?) to come forward and complete the jigsaw. It must be driving the family and friends demented.

 

[Robin Hood]

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/448...f_Claudia_Lawrence_hits_out_at_police_search/

Blake Beresforde told The Press of his shock when neighbours phoned him at work to say police had smashed through his front door to search the property on Friday night.
The 21-year-old, a chef who lives in Heworth Road, two doors down from Claudia, said he hardly knew her and had never been in a relationship with her.

 

[ellie b]

It doesn't seem likely to me that she was taken from the house because there are no apparent signs of a struggle and it would have been difficult to remove a body (sorry if that sounds insensitive) from her house without somebody seeing something (IMO).
The fact that Claudia didn't make a call or text after about 8.30pm also may indicate that something happened to her that evening rather than the following morning, although of course she may have gone to bed early as she had to get up early.
As far as the sighting early in the morning of a woman similar in stature to Claudia talking to a man somewhere on the route that she would have taken to work, I wonder if anyone came forward for that, I remember the details were all over the news, if it had been someone else surely they would have seen it on the news ?
Just one more point, I noted that her purse was left in her house, I wonder if that was normal for her to leave her purse at home when she went to work, I'm sure for most women it would be normal to have their purse with them when they went out, even to work.

 

[HydraMan]

I have to agree that the fact that her rucksack/bag, chef's whites and hair straighteners were missing probably indicates that she intended spending the night elsewhere then going straight to work. IMO

Ok, here’s my take on this:

Apparently Claudia was very particular about her appearance and would spend a fair amount of time each morning on this. She would have needed many toiletries & makeup items etc. but apart from the hair straighteners all the other items were found to be still in her house. These included the phone charger, and her electric toothbrush was found on the sink where she used it after breakfast & just before leaving. It later transpired she did occasionally take the straighteners to work in her rucksack, presumably so she could top-up during the day.

If she had stayed overnight some near then she would simply have planned to return to the house to prepare for work, in which case she would not have taken the rucksack. If it was somewhere further away then she might have chosen not to return and so would have taken an overnight kit and the rucksack, but there is no evidence of this. Everyone agrees she had not had a longer term relationship for over a year, so I think it is unlikely she would keep a duplicate kit anywhere else. The Nag’s Head and it guest rooms were searched thoroughly several times early in investigation without finding anything of interest, and as I have said she would have returned home before work anyway.

However this also poses a problem to the idea she was attacked the previous evening as everything was as if she had left for work. She was known to wear slippers when indoors and change into outdoor footwear at the front door. Her boots and jacket were missing and her father found her slippers inside the door when he first entered the house on the Friday. If she was attacked the day before then her attacker would need to have been very familiar with her routine so they could replicate all these details to make it look as if she had left for work as normal.

Possible of course but it makes it a little less likely in my mind. One of my original ideas was that she did leave for work but encountered someone as she came out of the house and for some reason invited them back inside. The attacker would them simply have to remove the rucksack along with the body.

 

[ellie b]

I think you're right Yosser it will take someone coming forward to crack this case, although of course evidence will probably be difficult to find at this stage.

 

[HydraMan]

I wonder if the deceased landlord, who was identified by police as probably being the male in the original cctv, owned any property in Heworth Place?

As I said in previous post he owned two properties in Heworth Place. I cannot be sure which ones they were, but my research suggested that one of them could have been No.15 (and possibly No.13 next door the other). If this is true then this is another co-incidence as 15 backs directly on to the back of Claudia's garden.

Cartwight apparently was a early buy-to-let pioneer and had built a sizable portfolio of properties in the area including these.

 

[ellie b]

That all makes sense HydraMan, so it could well have been Claudia sighted early in the morning on her way to work, could this have been a random attack/abduction ?

 

[Yozzer]

Ok, here’s my take on this:
'If it was somewhere further away then she might have chosen not to return and so would have taken an overnight kit and the rucksack, but there is no evidence of this. Everyone agrees she had not had a longer term relationship for over a year, so I think it is unlikely she would keep a duplicate kit anywhere else. '

However this also poses a problem to the idea she was attacked the previous evening as everything was as if she had left for work. She was known to wear slippers when indoors and change into outdoor footwear at the front door. Her boots and jacket were missing and her father found her slippers inside the door when he first entered the house on the Friday.
.

I thought I'd read that she was involved in an ongoing long term relationship with a man who had a partner and child?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...pt-with-mystery-man-before-disappearance.html
I think the evidence in the house suggests to me her leaving the night before with a rucksack containing uniform, straighteners, a spare toothbrush and perhaps a tube of lipstick and mascara. This would be her 'overnight' kit with a day's work to attend the following morning. Perhaps she forgot to wash her breakfast dishes from that morning and everything else (slippers, outer clothes missing) can be explained by the above.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Ok, here’s my take on this:

<snipped>

If she was attacked the day before then her attacker would need to have been very familiar with her routine so they could replicate all these details to make it look as if she had left for work as normal.

Possible of course but it makes it a little less likely in my mind. One of my original ideas was that she did leave for work but encountered someone as she came out of the house and for some reason invited them back inside. The attacker would them simply have to remove the rucksack along with the body.

I always wondered if she stepped out of the house as normal that morning, and somebody she knew offered her a lift.

 

[Robin Hood]

Maybe it was Claudia on the side of the road with the man and the car with the passenger door open.

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/13170

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Was her phone ever found? I know her rucksack, chefs whites and straighteners were missing - anything else?

Wasn't there something about her phone being physically switched off at 12:20am (unusual for Claudia to either switch it off or let it run out of batteries) or have I got mixed up with another case?

 

[ellie b]

Was her phone ever found? I know her rucksack, chefs whites and straighteners were missing - anything else?

Wasn't there something about her phone being physically switched off at 12:20am (unusual for Claudia to either switch it off or let it run out of batteries) or have I got mixed up with another case?

I believe that her phone went off at 12.10 pm on Thur 19th March, I'm not sure that they know whether it was switched off or whether it ran out of battery charge.

 

[ellie b]

Maybe it was Claudia on the side of the road with the man and the car with the passenger door open.

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/13170

Well, that would fit in with the possibility that someone she knew offered her a lift as she left the house. How close is this to her workplace ? Would she have got back in the car if she was only a few steps from her workplace ? What time did her shift actually start ?

 

[Robin Hood]

I believe her shift started at 6am. If it was her arguing she may have got back in the car so as not to be any later.

From the Police.
''Another significant line of enquiry from 2009 was the sighting of a man and woman seemingly involved in an argument on University Road, outside the University of York, at about 6.10am on Thursday 19 March - around the time Claudia was due start her shift as a chef at the university.''

 

[ellie b]

This is the clip of the car which passed Claudia's house at 5.42am on 19th March.

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/13155

 

[Robin Hood]

This is the clip of the car which passed Claudia's house at 5.42am on 19th March.

http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/13155

I wonder if she was late for a 6am start, it's a 27 min walk to the Uni. If she was outside her home at 5.42am she wouldn't get there until approx 6.15am. It's possible she started work at 6.15am. I'll need to see what time her shift finished that day, it must be on the cctv footage, the one where she's seen leaving work.