Discovery of missing 
US women ‘raises hopes’ over Claudia

Peter Lawrence stressed he hoped it would not take as long to find out what had happened to his daughter, who vanished in March 2009, while he was at a race organised by the charity, Missing People, on Saturday.

He attended the Miles for Missing People’s 10km run on Clapham Common, south London, which was started by Kate McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared on holiday in Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve in 2007.

Mr Lawrence said: “Someone obviously knows what’s happened to Claudia and one day we’re going to find out. I just hope that it doesn’t take too long though.” Mr Lawrence, who did not take part in the run himself but handed out medals at the end, said he had been heartened by the recent discovery of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight in Ohio, a decade after they went missing in separate incidents.

“It does give you hope,” he said. “I just hope it doesn’t take that long. It’s difficult, some days are worse than others but we’ve got to keep going for Claudia’s sake.”

About 500 runners took part in this year’s race to raise funds for the charity’s 24-hour helpline. Rachel Elias, the sister of missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards who disappeared in 1995, was also at the event.

Miss Lawrence was 35 when she was last seen near her home in York. The missing person inquiry was upgraded to a murder investigation the following month.