Claudia Lawrence's mother marks missing daughter's 50th birthday

Despite numerous appeals, searches, arrests and interviews, Claudia Lawrence's case remains unsolved

The mother of missing Claudia Lawrence has said she has still not given up hope on what would have been her daughter's 50th birthday.

The chef was 35 when she failed to arrive for work at the University of York on 18 March 2009.

Police believe Claudia was murdered, although her body has never been found and no charges have ever been brought.

Her 80-year-old mother Joan said it was "the worst thing possible" that she still did not know where Claudia was.

Her daughter was last seen at 15:05 on Wednesday 18 March 2009, walking towards her home on Heworth Road in York.

Claudia's disappearance prompted the biggest and most complex missing person inquiry in the history of North Yorkshire Police.

Ms Lawrence said her faith had helped her cope with "all the speculation" in the intervening years.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of 27 February, her daughter's birthday, she said: "I pray a lot about all this.

"There's one person that knows where she is and he looks down on me every day.

"He's here now with me otherwise I wouldn't get through this," she said.

Joan Lawrence said she had relied on her religious faith to help her cope with Claudia's disappearance

She added the trauma of not knowing where her daughter was had "strengthened my faith" over the years, but she still did not feel like there was enough support for other families with missing loved ones.

She said: "I couldn't do it without [faith].

"Losing a child, no matter what age they are, is the worst thing possible.

"You don't expect to bury your child and I don't know whether I'm going to bury mine, as I'm 80 now and I don't know where she is still."

Ahead of Mother's Day in March, Ms Lawrence said she had her own coping methods, especially as it had also been three years since Claudia's father, Peter, died at the age of 74, without ever knowing what happened to his daughter.

"I just take it on the day, I have the dog all over me and I find animals very therapeutic," she said.

"He thinks I am a soft touch, which is right, and I have the grandchildren as well."

Mr Lawrence campaigned for the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Bill, also known as Claudia's Law, which was passed in April 2017 and came into force two years later.

In 2018 he was appointed an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of his campaigning over her disappearance.

Ms Lawrence said this was "all speculation" and she still had hope about her daughter, as "we still have no evidence about what's happened to her even after 15 years".

To mark the 15th anniversary of Claudia's disappearance, she has been sharing her story in a four-part series produced by BBC Radio York.

'Claudia Lawrence: A Mother's Story' will be available on BBC Sounds and broadcast on BBC Radio York in March.