All I want on her 50th birthday is to be told what happened to her

The mother of missing chef Claudia Lawrence says she is desperate for answers as she faces her precious daughter's 50th birthday this week.

- MICHELLE RAWLINS

Joan Lawrence, 80, hopes the milestone tomorrow will prompt anyone with information to come forward and end a "living nightmare".

"All I want on Claudia's birthday is to know what has happened. No matter how old your children are, they are still your babies," she said.

"This is draining for all of us. As a family, we have had to live in a state of limbo for far too long." Claudia, a chef at York University, was last seen on March 18, 2009. She never arrived for work the next day.

Arrests were made years later but there was insufficient evidence for prosecutors to bring charges.

North Yorkshire Police said they were scaling back their investigation in 2017 but in 2022 officers searched Sand Hutton gravel pits in the region.

"No parent should have to endure this amount of pain but every day I wake up and the horror of it all begins again," said Joan.

"Never did I imagine I'd be marking her birthday by pleading for answers and praying someone will tell me what happened to my daughter.