SUZY LAMPLUGH went missing in West London in 1986 but the case still remains unsolved over 35 years later.
The original police investigation into Lamplugh’s disappearance, and the subsequent reinvestigation, is explored in the 2024 Channel 5 documentary Suzy Lamplugh: Last Seen Alive….
What happened to Suzy Lamplugh?
Suzy Lamplugh was an estate agent who was 25 years old when she went missing.
On the day she vanished, the young woman had an appointment to show a man, who she believed to be called Mr Kipper, around a property in Shorrolds Road, Fulham, West London.
After leaving the office for the appointment Lamplugh didn’t return to work.
She was never seen again.
The passage of time has not weakened our determination to seek justice and get the answers that the Lamplugh family continue to wait for.
Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Reeves
Police have chased up a number of leads relating to the disappearance in the decades that have passed since.
Their investigations, however, have continued to draw blanks and, as of February 2024, Lamplugh has never been found.
She was officially declared dead in 1994, eight years after she was last seen alive.
When did Suzy disappear and has anyone ever been charged with her murder?
July 28, 1986
In July 1986, Suzy Lamplugh arranged to meet Mr Kipper in Fulham and was declared missing shortly afterwards.
The police launched their investigation and found Lamplugh’s white Ford Fiesta parked outside a property for sale in Stevenage Road, one and a half miles away from where her appointment with Mr Kipper was on Shorrolds Road.
Searches of the vehicle showed that Lamplugh’s car key was missing, the handbrake was off, and her purse had been left behind.
October 1987
The Metropolitan Police conducted DNA tests on 800 unidentified bodies and skeletal remains in an attempt to identify Lamplugh in October 1987.
They tested remains that matched the missing woman’s description but were not successful in finding her amongst them.
1989-1990
Convicted murderer and rapist John Cannan was questioned about Lamplugh’s disappearance between 1989 and 1990.
Cannan had been released from a prison hostel just three days before Lamplugh vanished and was said to have used the name “Kipper” in jail.
A criminologist also linked Lamplugh, through DNA evidence, to a Ford Sierra that Cannan once used with the false number plate SLP 386S.
1994
Lamplugh was officially declared dead in 1994 after the police investigation failed to bring up any credible leads.
2000
The investigation into Lamplugh’s disappearance was reopened in 2000 after police traced a car that may have been linked to her vanishing.
In December, Cannan was arrested for the murder and questioned but not charged as there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
2001
A police search was carried out in the area around Norton Army Barracks in 2001, but no new evidence was uncovered.
2002
Police publicly announced that they suspected Cannan of the crime, despite him not being charged when he was arrested two years earlier.
Cannan denied all allegations.
2008
Following the murder of five prostitutes, police investigating Lamplugh’s disappearance checked prosecution files of Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright in 2008.
Even though Wright knew Lamplugh in the 1980s, when they both worked on the QE2, no other evidence linked the serial killer to the crime.
2010
Police attempted to uncover more evidence by excavating a field adjacent to Drakes Broughton village in Worcestershire in 2010 but the case continued to run dry.
2018
Police searching for Lamplugh began digging up a garden on October 29, 2018, in the hope of solving the mystery.
The Sun exclusively reported at the time that the property in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, was the former home of the mother of prime suspect John Cannan.
It was believed that his mum was living in a different part of the country and there was no suggestion that she was involved in or had any knowledge of this or any of her son’s crimes.
A forensic archaeologist guided police during the search, using ground-penetrating radar, but it yielded no evidence at the property.
2019
Cannan suffered a stroke in jail in 2019 while being held in Full Sutton prison, East Yorkshire, for the murder of another woman, Shirley Banks, in 1987.
His ailing condition came as police dug for missing Lamplugh’s remains on the edge of a field near Pershore, Worcestershire.
In response to a tip-off, cops investigating the murder dug up land next to an old tip that “could have concealed anything”.
2020
New evidence that Lamplugh’s suspected killer was seen hurling a large suitcase into a canal 34 years ago offered fresh hope of finding her in 2020.
The sighting was made by a lorry driver walking to work at 5am along a towpath next to the canal in Brentford, West London.
There, he came “face to face” with Cannan who was pushing a large holdall on a trolley.
Seconds later, he heard a splash and looked round to allegedly see Cannan running away.
The lorry driver reported what he had seen to Brentford police, the first of three occasions he is said to have tried to alert officers.
2021
35 years after she vanished, police said in 2021 that they were still hopeful of cracking the mystery of Lamplugh’s disappearance
They insisted the inquiry was still active as a Sky Crime documentary, The Mystery Of Suzy Lamplugh, re-examined the case.
Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Reeves, the Met Police senior investigating officer, said at the time: “We would urge anyone who believes they might know something about what happened to Suzy all those years ago to come forward.
“Whether you saw something that you thought was unconnected at the time or you felt under pressure to protect someone you knew – it is not too late.
“The passage of time has not weakened our determination to seek justice and get the answers that the Lamplugh family continue to wait for.
“They have always been supportive of our efforts to make progress in the investigation and they have shown remarkable strength despite the immense sadness they have endured over the years.”
2022
The Vanishing Of Suzy Lamplugh documentary aired in June 2022.
The Channel 5 programme featured testimony from detectives who were involved in the original inquiry and re-investigations that followed.
Lamplugh’s brother Richard also appeared in the doc, revealing heartbreaking details of how his parents Paul and Diana had walked the streets calling his sister’s name while looking for her.
2024
Channel 5 announced a new documentary exploring the investigation into Lamplugh’s vanishing.
The 90-minute programme, Suzy Lamplugh: Last Seen Alive…, was scheduled to air on February 6, 2024.
What is the Suzy Lamplugh Trust?
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust was established by the estate agent’s parents, Paul and Diana Lamplugh.
The Trust played a key role in the passing of the Protection from Harassment Act, which clamped down on crimes involving stalking.
According to the charity’s official website, its mission is to “reduce the risk of violence and aggression through campaigning, education and support”.
Speaking on the 30th anniversary of his daughter’s tragic disappearance, Suzy’s then 85-year-old dad Paul said: “I don’t have very much hope that I will find out what happened.
“I miss Suzy more now… I think the older I get I miss her.
“I particularly remember a conversation when Diana was chiding her for doing too much and she said ‘Come on mum life is for living’.
“Suzy did know how to live life fully but no-one taught her how to be safe.”
Both of Suzy’s parents died without ever knowing what happened to their daughter.
Her mum Diana died in August 2011 while dad Paul died on June 12, 2018.
