a 59 year old man has been arrested for the murder of claudia lawrence six years after she vanished the married father of two drank in the same pub as the missing university chef and lives within half a mile of her home in york the development came days after police released cctv of a mystery man caught on camera walking towards the back of her terraced house on the evening she was last known to be alive officers have been working on a ‘significant’ new line of inquiry focusing on the alleyway behind her home and yesterday’s arrest is believed to be linked to that investigation scroll down for video  a 59 year old man has been arrested for the murder of claudia lawrence (pictured) six years after she vanished  north yorkshire police have asked media not to identify the suspect for fear of compromising the inquiry at what they describe as a ‘critical phase’ the man was arrested on monday morning and police moved into his semi detached house to carry out detailed searches and forensic inquiries neighbours in the quiet cul de sac in a middle class neighbourhood were surprised by the police activity one said: ‘i know him, i’ve lived here for 20 years and he’s just a normal bloke he’s lived here longer than me’ the neighbour said he had recently lost his job working as a manager for a large firm police moved into the suspect's semi detached house to carry out detailed searches and forensic inquiries  it came days after police released new cctv footage which shows two people walking near her home on the evening she vanished it is understood the arrest is linked to this appeal  miss lawrence, 35, returned home from work on wednesday, march 18, 2009, and spoke to her parents separately on the phone that evening she has not been seen since her father reported her missing on the friday despite a huge investigation police have failed to find a single clue to explain what has happened to her the suspect being questioned was one of many men who were spoken to at the time of the original police inquiry because he drank in the same pub as miss lawrence the landlady of a different local pub, who also knows the suspect, said yesterday: ‘he said the police spoke to him at the time, but he always made light of it he said the police went to his house he is a really funny, really nice guy who reads loads of books he was very witty’ detective superintendent dai malyn, who is leading the new police investigation, said no further details about the arrest would be released he said: ‘i urge everyone to show restraint and patience while we carry out these very important inquiries’ police told miss lawrence’s parents peter and joan about the arrest shortly before making the news public detectives said they have not found claudia's body, who vanished on thursday 19 march 2009  yesterday mr lawrence, 68, a solicitor, said: ‘any progress is good it is encouraging to know that following all the media activity over the last three weeks…police continue to be active in seeking answers as to what has happened to claudia it is to be hoped the matter can be resolved as soon as possible and i encourage people to continue to come forward with information to the police’ jen king, one of miss lawrence’s closest friends, said: ‘everyone wants closure, but they have already arrested two people and got nowhere’ a 60 year old man was arrested last year on suspicion of murder but was later released without charge a 47 year old man remains on bail on suspicion of perverting the course of justice mr malyn took charge of the inquiry in 2013 and looked at all the evidence with a ‘fresh eye’ since then police have carried out new forensic inquiries inside miss lawrence’s house – finding fingerprints of people they have not yet identified last month the inquiry took a twist when police carried out a detailed search of an alleyway behind miss lawrence’s home mr malyn said at the time his detectives were unravelling ‘lies and relationships’ in the missing woman’s life last week police released cctv footage taken at around 715pm on march 18 showing a man walking towards the rear of miss lawrence’s house the camera picks him up returning about one minute later and he appears to be carrying a bag over his shoulder as he walks back to the main road he is seen to stop briefly as another man walks in front of him police appealed for information to identify both men and the arrest came five days later anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact north yorkshire police on 101 or crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or wwwcrimestoppers ukorg  the footage shows an area near an alleyway at the rear of miss lawrence's terraced house, which was searched by police last month and is said to be of 'growing significance' to the investigation  sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article
lawrence half a mile peter
miss lawrence was last seen in 2009 and is thought to have been killed . university chef vanished and is believed to have been killed in her home . married father of two, 59, is being questioned and is in police custody . he drank in same pub as the chef and lives within half a mile of her home . detectives are searching the suspect's home but have not found a body . her father peter said he was 'encouraged' about the arrest after appeal 