Police hunt missing chef's 'mystery boyfriend'

The missing university chef Claudia Lawrence spent the night with an unidentified man just two days before she disappeared.


Police believe he may have some information that could help in their search for the 35-year-old.


Miss Lawrence has been missing since March 18 last year. She failed to arrive for work the following morning and police think she may have come to harm by someone she knew. The University of York worker was last seen near her home in nearby Heworth.


The 'mystery boyfriend' is thought to a man separate to another who she was already involved in a long-term, casual sexual relationship.


Detective Superintendent Ray Galloway, who is leading the investigation, described the latest development as "extremely hot intelligence".


He said: "Critically, information has come to us (only today) whereby we understand that Claudia has told (someone) that she was actually out on one of the evenings, on one of the nights which immediately preceded her disappearance - out into the very early hours with what she described as a boyfriend and we are talking deep into the night, half past four or five o'clock in the morning. That is something we didn't know previously."


Police say throughout the investigation there has been a history of people not coming forward with vital information.


Claudia Lawrence is said to have "compartmentalised" her lifestyle with very few people knowing what did behind closed doors.