Missing lady’s household hope suspected killer left hidden message in guide

The family of an estate agent who vanished without a trace almost 40 years ago, hope the answers they are desperate for may be in a book written by her suspected killer.

Suzy Lamplugh disappeared on July 28, 1986. The 25-year-old estate agent was officially declared dead seven years later, presumed murdered.

An appointment in her dairy to show a “Mr Kipper” around a house in Fulham, southwest London is the last clue to Suzy’s whereabouts. Her car was found near the Shorrolds Road property with the keys in the ignition, but there was no trace of her.

Suzy’s assumed murderer John Cannan died earlier this month behind bars, aged 70.

He died serving a life sentence for killing a woman a year after Suzy disappeared.

The estate agent’s family have longed for closure, and to scatter Suzy’s ashes, however Cannan refused to admit guilt or help the Lamplugh family find peace. With this death, Suzy’s siblings fear closure will never come.

However, Suzy’s brother Richard, believes the convicted killer may be able to help them yet, thanks to books he wrote while in the slammer.

The dad of two said: “I gather that he was writing books in prison, so maybe someone could read them and have a look at it. But it won’t be me… There’s a lingering hope that maybe he left a hidden message or a note that would give a clue about what happened to Suze.”

Suzy’s family, Richard, sisters Lizzie and Tamsin, fitness club manager mum Diana and dad Paul, a solicitor, say they instinctively knew within days of her going missing, Suzy had died.

Richard, 64, was in his late 20s when Suzy disappeared, said: aid: “The thing that makes me sad….I felt I was quite close to Suze, and the one thing I do miss is that it would have been lovely to know what her family was like. She’d be a lovely mum. She was quite a mother duck, gentle. She had that warm nature.”

He added that she and his sisters have come to accept they might never be able to scatter Suzy’s ashes.

Mum Diana set up the Suzy Lamplugh Trust charity in honour of her daughter to improve personal safety awareness, for which she and Paul both received OBEs in 1992.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.