Hunt for Suzy is called off
HOPES of finding the body of missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh were dashed yesterday after police called off a search in a suburban back garden.
Scotland Yard revealed no trace of the 25-year-old was found during a 10-day search at a house previously owned by the mother of suspect John Cannan.
There was no suggestion his mother Sheila was under suspicion of being involved in hiding her body.
Suzy’s brother Richard Lamplugh, 58, said yesterday: “Of course it is disappointing the search did not yield anything.
“As a family we all want to bury Suzy in a place of our choosing and not that of anyone else. We want to find Suzy and would support any further inquiries that are made.”
Forensics teams moved into the rear of the semi in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, after a tip-off. The £100,000 operation focused on a mechanic’s inspection pit which was filled in.
The Met Police said they had finished their search and no evidence was found.
Det Chief Supt Richard Wood said: “I would like to pay tribute to Suzy’s family. This latest line of inquiry must have been traumatic for them. The Met remains committed to bringing Suzy’s killer to justice.”
Cannan, 64, a convicted killer and rapist, denies the kidnap and murder of Suzy in Fulham, west London. She vanished after going to a property to meet a buyer called “Mr Kipper” in 1986.
Cannan was jailed for life for raping and killing Shirley Banks, 29, in Bristol in 1987 and for trying to kidnap a woman and raping another woman in 1986.
Mrs Cannan sold the house to Phillip Carey and his wife Deborah six years after Suzy went missing. Mr Carey said: “I’m sorry for her family but I’m relieved to have my house back.”