New police appeal to find mum ten years on
AFRESH appeal has been issued to find a young mum who went missing in suspicious circumstances ten years ago at the time of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Detectives are continuing to investigate the disappearance of Claire Holland and hope the landmark celebrations over the weekend for the Platinum Jubilee will jog people’s memories.
Claire, from Lawrence Weston, Bristol, was last seen leaving the Seamus O’Donnell’s pub in St Nicholas Street at around 11.15pm on Wednesday, June 6, 2012.
Claire, who was 32 at the time, was reported missing a few days later but no trace of her has been found.
A 37-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of the murder of the mother of one in 2019. Police said upon his release that he remained under investigation.
Earlier this year, officers confirmed a new arrest of a now 40-yearold man who was again released on bail.
Speaking yesterday, Detective Chief Inspector Darren Hannant said: “Claire’s disappearance is being treated as suspicious as there remains no known reason why she would choose to disappear.
“We’ve now just celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend, so I’m asking people to cast their mind back to the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Were you in Bristol on the evening of Wednesday, June 6, 2012? Did you see anything which could help our investigation?
“A 40-year-old man, who was rearrested on suspicion of murder in March 2022, remains on police bail at this time.
“This remains an extensive investigation and to date we’ve completed almost 300 investigative actions, taken 78 statements and collated 404 documents and 135 exhibits.
“We firmly believe there are people out there with crucial information that could assist our investigation and would urge them to contact us.
“Please think of Claire’s children and her wider family on this day. They are desperate for answers and deserve to know what happened, and why.
“If you’re holding on to a piece of information, please share it with us – it could be the key to solving this case.”
Last year the Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT) released CCTV footage showing Claire on the day she disappeared as part of a renewed appeal.
Several targeted searches in and around the Bristol area have also been carried out.
In an earlier appeal, Det Ch Insp Hannant said: ““CCTV shows Claire walking along Baldwin Street heading towards the Seamus O’Donnell’s pub at around 9.30pm on Wednesday, June 6.
“We don’t have any footage showing where she went afterwards, but staff have confirmed she did leave the pub later that evening just after closing time, around 11.15pm.
“It is possible she headed in the direction of the fountains, near the Harbourside, but we don’t have any footage of her doing so, despite extensive reviews of more than 1,000 hours of available CCTV.”
Claire is described as white, around 5ft tall of a small build with shoulder-length brown hair that is often tied in a ponytail.
She was last seen wearing black trousers, a short-sleeved black top with a grey T-shirt underneath.
She was also carrying a cream-coloured Primark re-usable carrier bag.
Anyone with information should contact https://mipp.police.uk/ operation/5219C66-PO1 – or call 101 with reference number 5219172645.