She’s 40 today - but no-one has seen Claudia Lawrence for five years

Today should have been a day to celebrate for the Lawrence family as their beloved daughter and sister Claudia turned 40.

Instead it will be another painful day for Peter Lawrence, his ex-wife Joan and Claudia’s sister Ali, one of many since the York chef vanished five years ago.

“There would have been a celebration with a few drinks at her local the Nag’s Head and definitely some music,” say Peter, who plans to spend the day quietly reflecting on his daughter.

The York solicitor has spent the last five years since Claudia’s disappearance campaigning to keep Claudia’s name in the public and media’s minds, launching the Find Claudia appeal.

Although being a solicitor he is used to standing up and speaking out, it is a different matter talking about deeply personal and private emotions as he has had to over the last five years.

It is clear it doesn’t come easy to him, but he knows it is something he has to do to ensure his daughter is not forgotten.

“I made a decision right at the beginning that it was something I had to do. I had to keep Claudia’s disappearance in the public eye. And although at times it has been very, very difficult it had to be done.” He is once again putting himself in front of the cameras to mark Claudia’s 40th and then again next month to mark the fifth anniversary of her disappearance when North Yorkshire Police are also expected to issue a fresh appeal.

Her mother and Mayor of Malton, Joan, will spend the day with her elder daughter Ali, 43.

“I can’t believe it is five years since Claudia disappeared,” says Joan who lives in Norton.

“It shouldn’t have gone on so long with no news. It has been hell and I don’t know how we carry on.”

Claudia was last seen as she left work at York University at around 3pm on March 18, 2009. She spoke to her mum on the phone that night, but failed to turn up for work the following day.

“There is no way Claudia would miss work without telling anyone,” says Peter. “I knew then that something was wrong.”

When he went round to her neat and tidy terraced house in Heworth, York, his fears were compounded.

“I went round expecting her to be at home, but when she wasn’t I knew there was something drastically wrong.

“Anyone who knew Claudia would know that she wouldn’t go out without her handbag and it was there in the house with all her things in.”

Peter called the police, sparking one of the largest investigations ever undertaken by North Yorkshire Police.

“I thought they might not take me seriously but they came round immediately.”

Despite a number of possible sightings there have been no major breakthroughs and at times the family’s relationships with the police have been strained.

Not least when the then head of North Yorkshire CID, Det Supt Ray Galloway went on BBC Crimewatch and talked about Claudia’s “mysterious” and “complex” love life.

“We had no idea what he was talking about,” says Peter. “It was terrible. The media seized on it for a while and I do believe for a while it did harm the campaign. She was a 35-year-old woman who liked having fun, but they made it sound so sinister.”

In October police announced a new team would be reviewing the case along with a number of other missing persons cases.

“There’s a new, experienced team and we have to give them time to do something. I am grateful for the fact they are reinvestigating,” says Peter.

Just months after her disappearance, police changed it from a missing person to a murder investigation although Peter and Joan still don’t accept their daughter is dead.

“It seems both five minutes and an eternity. I have gone through and through what might have happened to her,” says Peter

“I really believe that I would know in my heart if she wasn’t alive,” says Peter, who still believes his daughter may have been abducted. “It is very difficult to even start to think what might have been happening (to her) over the last five years.”

Peter says he has got through the last five years thanks to the support of friends and also his work. “I dread to think what might have happened if I didn’t have my work,” he says. He is also working closely with the charity Missing People as a family reprenative “I went down to their headquarters in London and met a dozen or so people who have all been through a similar experience, some for far longer. It does help in some ways, but in other ways it doesn’t.”

In his role he also lobbies government and political organisations for change, including the law on presumption of death. As a result of Missing People’s campaign, the new Presumption of Death Act has been passed which will allow relatives to apply for a single certificate declaring someone presumed dead, helping them to resolve that person’s affairs.

Although the introduction of the law has been delayed, Peter Lawrence hopes it will be in place soon. He also working hard for another law on guardianship, allowing families to maintain a missing person’s estate during these years by cancelling direct debits, paying off debts, and providing maintenance for dependants.

“I have heard some terrible stories of wives unable to sort out their mortgage because it was in joint names and the husband had gone missing.”

He clearly finds it easier to talk about these areas of his life than of his personal feelings and emotions. In some ways, he says, Claudia was like him.

“She was extremely shy,” he says. “She would never have gone up to a man in a bar and started talking to him, which is why all the things said about her were so hurtful. She hates having her photo taken even as a little girl. If someone got out a camera she’d run away, which is why there aren’t many photographs of her.”

While Peter has his work and his campaigining to keep him going, Joan has her friends, family and her faith. Tomorrow, like previous birthdays since Claudia went missing, will see Joan spend the day with Ali.

“The fact we don’t know where she is and can’t give her any cards, any presents but, more importantly, any hugs, is heart breaking, so Ali and I are spending the day together.

“We will laugh about the good times and talk about when they were little.” Candles will also be lit for Claudia in churches in Malton and Norton. “I couldn’t get through this without my faith. There are times when I don’t believe this is real, sometimes I think she is going to come through the door.”

But for the Lawrences there can be no closure until Claudia is found or until they know what has happened to her.

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