A “CREEPY intruder” is feared to have broken into missing Claudia Lawrence’s house for third time as her mum found her knickers had been moved.
Horrified Joan Lawrence, 82, has been left “shaken” after spotting various clues that someone had entered her daughter’s home – despite being the only person with a key, she believes.
Claudia Lawrence disappeared in March 2009, and police believe she was murdered[/caption]
Her family has left Claudia’s home untouched[/caption]
Claudia’s mum, Joan, is convinced there have been three break-ins to the property[/caption]
Claudia vanished 16 years ago and everything in her house in Heworth, York has been kept just as it was – until somebody apparently began tampering with it.
Joan believes the the first break-in happened in February, followed by a second in April and another earlier this week.
She visited the house with the “Answers for Claudia” podcast but immediately called the police when she noticed things were off.
A pair of black Next nickers had been moved and left hanging out of the wardrobe, Joan told the Mirror.
A pink paper raffle ticket was found on the kitchen floor, and Joan is questioning whether it might be a clue deliberately left for her.
She told the paper: “I knew as soon as I unlocked the front door someone had been back into Claudia’s house – I’m convinced this is now the third time.”
Walking around the property, other signs began to jump out at her as well.
Bizarrely, a stack of video cassettes that had been in an alcove under the stairs had been moved upstairs to Claudia’s bedroom and left on a chest of drawers, next to her TV.
But it was the knickers which most unsettled Joan.
She said: “I felt sick as soon as I saw the knickers…They were definitely not there on my last visit. As a mum, you notice things like that.
“Underwear is very personal and the idea of someone rummaging through Claudia’s most intimate possessions is sickening.”
Forensic officers attended to house and took away various items for inspection including the underwear – which they have reportedly discovered finger prints on.
Joan also noticed that some of the clothes hangers had been pushed together, and that at least seven were empty – whereas they had previously all been in use.
The usually neatly-folded clothes also showed signs of being rummaged through, according to Joan.
Joan said it was “creepy and disturbing” that someone appeared “obsessed” with her missing daughter’s clothes.
Claudia was reported to have had multiple relationships with men already with partners[/caption]
Police visited her home in York when Joan reported the latest suspected break-in[/caption]
Claudia was 35 when she disappeared in March 2009.
Joan says she has no idea why all of this is happening now, after all these years.
Although her body has never been found, her disappearance has been treated as murder.
She was working as a chef at Goodricke College, University of York, and appeared to have set off for work on the morning of her disappearance.
Claudia maintained several secretive relationships with men, including those who were either married or otherwise in relationships.
Police have arrested and subsequently released several individuals as part of the hunt, but Claudia’s fate still remains uncertain.
The last confirmed sighting of Claudia was in York on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 – when a friend saw her heading home.
That evening, she spoke with her parents, Joan and Peter, in what would be the last communication her family had with her.
Claudia was scheduled to begin her shift at 6am on March 19 but failed to show up for work.
Claudia was last seen heading home by a friend, but failed to show up for work the next morning[/caption]
The initial missing persons poster from 2009[/caption]
That evening, she had plans to meet her friend Suzy Cooper at The Nag’s Head, but she did not turn up.
When the police got involved, they found the home orderly, with dishes in the sink and the bed made, showing a normal morning routine.
Her handbag, containing her purse, bank cards, and passport, was still in the house.
Missing items included her mobile phone, a set of hair straighteners, and a backpack she used for carrying her chef’s whites.
Joan had gone into her daughter’s home with podcast host, Tom McDermott, who has also accompanied her on previous visits.
He immediately called North Yorkshire Police, who sent a crime scene investigator out the following morning to examine the house.
Tom told the Mirror it was “absolutely shocking” that things are moving around in the house.