18 March 2023 , 07:35
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The mother of missing chef Claudia Lawrence has urged police to quiz murderer Christopher Halliwell more than a decade after she vanished.
Joan Lawrence fears detectives will never solve the case as she faces the 14th anniversary of her daughter’s disappearance on Mother’s Day.
She said more witnesses have come forward about Halliwell’s connections with York, where her Claudia was last seen in March 2009 aged 35.
The latest is a construction boss who travelled to the region with a team including ground worker Halliwell, 58.
Police believe Claudia’s personal life is key to the case and have dismissed links with the suspected serial killer.
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Joan Lawrence wants police to quiz Chris Halliwell over Claudia's disappearance (Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)But Joan fears they are “blinkered” and said there are now three witnesses who can link Halliwell with North Yorkshire.
She said: “More and more people keep coming forward. This can’t just be a coincidence.”
The Mirror revealed recently a witness, who worked in a garden centre, claims Halliwell stalked her near Pickering. Joan, who is 80 this summer, is still in contact with another witness, a former Nestle factory worker in York, who recognised his “evil piercing eyes”.
Speaking from her home in Malton, North Yorks, Joan has always insisted police should have paid more attention to Halliwell, a former taxi driver, of Swindon, Wilts.
He was convicted of murdering Becky Godden-Edwards, 20, in 2003 and Sian O’Callaghan, 22, in Swindon in 2011.
Christopher Halliwell was convicted of murdering two women in separate attacks (SWNS)Joan said: “So many witnesses mention the ‘piercing blue eyes’. It just feels like there is something we are all missing.
“Surely police should be looking at this again?”
Police divers searched Sand Hutton Gravel Pits, near York, in 2021, during a hunt for Claudia.
Now Joan wants to see Halliwell’s “treasure trove” of 60 items found at a lake in Ramsbury, Wilts, in 2014.
It included Sian’s brown boots, a shotgun and women’s clothing.
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Joan also asked to be shown his unreleased drawings of beauty spots. In a message to police, Joan said: “Please show me Halliwell’s treasure trove.
Police divers search for Claudia at Sand Hutton Gravel Pits, near York (Tom Maddick SWNS)“I might recognise something of Claudia’s that could be vital.
“I would like to see the sketches too. There could be a clue police haven’t spotted.”
Joan said she was once shown photos of Halliwell’s “trophies”.
She added: “I have only seen photographs of the clothing. The quality was not very good. I need to see them in front of me.”
The mum revealed a witness described Halliwell as an “odd bloke” who never mixed with builders in trips to the North.
She said a woman contacted her after seeing a newspaper picture of Halliwell.
Joan added the witness believes she saw him in a red Rover near the Nestle factory at 5am in March 2009.
She said: “The way he looked at her frightened her so much she ran home.”
Claudia went missing on Mother's Day in 2009 (PA)Joan said the woman did not know who he was before reporting it.
She said the witness made two statements to police, who she felt “weren’t taking her seriously”.
Joan added: “Years later when Halliwell was in the papers after he was in court for murder, she recognised his face and she made contact with me.”
She said she is also disturbed by the killer’s obsession with the date March 19, which is the day Claudia did not turn up for work.
Joan added: “I believe one of his girlfriends left him on the date and it’s the day he abducted Sian in 2011.
“I am worried police have dismissed it without thoroughly investigating.”
North Yorkshire Police said their thoughts are with Claudia’s family as they appealed to the public to help.
They said: “Any information that is assessed as being credible and capable of development will be acted upon.”