The neighbour of a woman who ‘disappeared off the face of the Earth’ has broken his silence 16 years after she went missing.
Building boss Peter Ruane was a close friend of Claudia Lawrence when the chef disappeared in 2009 at the age of 35.
Mr Ruane, now 65, was one of four drinking friends from the ‘Nag’s Head’ arrested on suspicion of murder – all of which were later released without charge.
The former neighbour has now spoken out on a podcast to say he was ‘close’ to Ms Lawrence and ‘misses her a great deal’.
It comes as the young woman was reported missing after she failed to turn up to work as a chef at York University in March 2009.
Sixteen years on, the case – treated as a murder inquiry by North Yorkshire Police almost from the start – has remained unresolved and has become one of the most high-profile in the country.
Speaking to journalist Tom McDermott on the “Answers for Claudia podcast”, Mr Ruane said: ‘I had nothing to do with her disappearance. I was close to Claudia and I miss her a great deal.’
Mr Ruane added he would be happy to help Ms Lawrence’s mother Joan, 81, if she ‘reached out’ to him and said he had known the missing chef’s father for 20 years.
Then aged 49, Mr Ruane previously spoke out the same year Ms Lawrence disappeared, saying: ‘Where she is now, it’s not out of choice. She just wouldn’t let work down and wouldn’t let people down. Without a shadow of doubt she would ring home.’
Joan Lawrence has said she is grateful for the new attention brought to the case as a result of the podcast adding she will ‘never, ever give up’ fighting for answers and ‘I’ve got to keep going. The not knowing where she is, is the hardest’.
Ms McDermott made contact with Mr Ruane while involved in Ms Lawrence’s friendship group as he spoke to people in Malton and Heworth where the Lawrences lived.
Ms Lawrence’s breakfast bowls had been left in the kitchen sink and her slippers were by the door when she disappeared with her home left in a ‘time warp’ and her clothes and belongings waiting for her to return.
The chef’s mother said she regularly visits the house as a condition of the house insurance.
Following the 15th anniversary of Ms Lawrence’s disappearance, Acting Assistant Chief Constable at North Yorkshire Police, Wayne Fox, stated the inquiry was not closed and that detectives remained determined to uncover what happened to Ms Lawrence.
The Answers for Claudia podcast has been working with Ms Lawrence’s mother for several years and has revealed the 35-year-old’s house ‘had been disturbed not once, but twice’.
They voiced fears the raiders had struck twice since the podcast revealed a secret attic was found in the terraced home.
A tissue and packet of half used chewing gum was also discovered inside a black leather jacket which the pair believed could hold vital DNA clues – but upon their return to the home they were horrified to realise someone had been inside.
Mr McDermott said: ‘New information has come forward and along with that people of significant interest, who have perhaps not felt comfortable to speak for over a decade, perhaps even 16 years, have come forward.
‘We have passed that new information to the police as we always do.
‘From a human point of view we feel like it is working and although it’s answers for Claudia, actually just as importantly answers for Joan as well.
‘…One of the challenges when we started this journey was the wall of silence almost as if people were reluctant to come forward…but what we are finding is, that’s slowly lifting.’
Mr McDermott added they had ‘noticed in recent months that the house has been disturbed not once but twice which is of particular concern’ but felt it is probably due to work they are doing with the podcast.
He concluded: ‘…I think we are getting closer and new information has been handed over in recent months.’
Local pub landlord George Forman had said in 2009 following Ms Lawrence’s disappearance: ‘We are really worried. We can’t think of any explanation. She has just disappeared off the face of the Earth.’
