Suzy Lamplugh murder: Police search land after ‘new information’
Written by News on 03/07/2019
Police investigating the 33-year mystery of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh’s murder have begun searching areas of land in Worcestershire.
The Metropolitan Police has said officers are acting on new information received as a result of the publicity surrounding the search of a property in Sutton Coldfield in November last year.
Her family have been notified of the new searches in Pershore.
Police say the owner of the land being searched is not connected to the operation – or the case in any way.
Ms Lamplugh, a 25-year-old estate agent, was working in Fulham, west London, when she disappeared on Monday 28 July 1986.
She left her office on Fulham Road to show a client around a house nearby at about 12.40pm – and had recorded the appointment in her work diary: “12.45 Mr Kipper – 37 Shorrolds Road O/S”.
Ms Lamplugh was seen walking away from the property with a man, presumed to be Mr Kipper, shortly after 1pm.
When she failed to return to work, her manager called Suzy’s mother Diana to ask if she had gone home for lunch.
After being told by Mrs Lamplugh that she had not seen her daughter either, Suzy’s disappearance was reported to the police, shortly before 7pm.
The investigation into her disappearance was closed in 1987 after it failed to produce any leads – and despite never finding a body, she was officially declared dead in 1993.
Her parents set up the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, one of the first charities to raise awareness about women’s personal safety.
They worked tirelessly to find their daughter’s killer, but both Diana and Paul Lamplugh died before knowing what happened to her.
Police interviewed hundreds of suspects, but were unable to make progress.
In November 2002, Scotland Yard named John Cannan as the man they believed killed Suzy.
He is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of another woman, Shirley Banks, in 1987, as well as the abduction and rape of other women.
He was released from a hostel days before Suzy disappeared, which is why police suspected him of murdering her.
He denies killing Ms Lamplugh and the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
Cannan was widely said to have used the name “Kipper” in prison.
(c) Sky News 2019: Suzy Lamplugh murder: Police search land after ‘new information’
