Claudia Lawrence: Mum appeals for answers on anniversary of disappearance

The mother of missing Claudia Lawrence says she will never give up "on hope" in the search to find out what happened to her daughter.

The 35-year-old has not been seen since she failed to arrive for work at the University of York in March 2009.

And despite numerous appeals, searches, arrests and interviews, the case remains unsolved.

"It's the not knowing," Joan Lawrence said. "We should really have had answers by now."

Speaking on the 13th anniversary of her daughter's disappearance, she told BBC Radio York how difficult it remained.

"You can't say goodbye - you don't know if she is dead - you don't know if she is alive," she said.

"There's no grave and all these things go round in your head."

However, Mrs Lawrence added: "If you give up on hope you may as well give up altogether."

Mrs Lawrence's hopes of a breakthrough in the case were dashed when a search at Sand Hutton gravel pits, near York, last year, failed to find major clues.

Police spent a fortnight scouring the popular fishing spot, about eight miles (13km) outside the city, draining a lake and searching woodland.

At the time, Claudia's mother said her biggest fear was what the police might find.

Claudia Lawrence's disappearance sparked a long running and high profile missing person case by North Yorkshire Police.

University chef Ms Lawrence was last seen at 15:05 on Wednesday 18 March 2009 walking towards her home on Heworth Road.

A friend who became concerned when she failed to meet at a local pub the following evening contacted Ms Lawrence's father, who reported her missing on 20 March.

A number of people have been questioned in connection with her disappearance, but no charges have ever been brought.

North Yorkshire Police scaled back their investigation in 2017.

Det Supt Wayne Fox, senior investigating officer in the case, said that did not mean it was closed.

"Every new piece of information or material is thoroughly assessed," he said.

"Despite the passage of time, we remain determined to provide the answers that Claudia's mother, sister and her many friends so desperately need and deserve," he added.

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