'WE WANT CLOSURE'
Suzy Lamplugh’s brother says he wants her body found to reunite her with their late parents
THE brother of missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh told how he wants to reunite her with their mum and dad if she is finally found.
Cops believe they could be on the verge of solving the 32-year-old mystery as they dig up a house linked to prime suspect John Cannan.
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It’s a development Suzy’s parents Diana and Paul were desperate to see before they both died.
And their only son Richard, from Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, intends to bring the family back together for a final time if the grim operation succeeds.
He said: “I’d like to see Suz given a proper burial in a nice place where I can go to remember her. I don’t like to think of her lying under a driveway, or wherever she is.
“My mum and dad spent all their time looking for her so I think she should go in beside them. It would be good to reunite them all.
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“That’s the only positive thing to come out of all of this. When I was told about the dig I thought ‘here we go again’.”
Suzy vanished in 1986 after she arranged to meet a client called Mr Kipper to show him two houses in Fulham, South West London.
Her body has never been found but she was declared dead, presumed murdered in 1994.
School technician Richard, 58, explained the family accepted long ago that Cannan was responsible and gave up hope of ever finding out the truth.
He said: “As far as I’m concerned we buried her and we had some closure.
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“All they’re going to find now is a skeleton, it’s not my sister. I really don’t want to know how she died and if she suffered.
“As long as the guy is going to stay in prison then I’m happy. He can’t do it to anyone else, which is the most important thing.”
Suzy’s mum Diana, 75, died in 2011, while her dad Paul passed away earlier this year, aged 87, after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.
They set up the influential Suzy Lamplugh Trust to promote safety for women in memory of their daughter.
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Richard said he and his sisters Lizzy, 47, and Tam, 56, have been keen to get on with their lives.
He added: “We’re just an ordinary family. We’ve had to deal with this for decades.
“Both my parents would have loved closure but when they died that kind of finished the whole thing off for us.
“Digging up the past is always difficult for those who have gone through it. It brings all the memories back.”
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Cannan, now 64, is serving a minimum of 35 years for murdering Shirley Banks in 1987.
Richard thinks it could be a blessing in disguise that Suzy’s remains, and how she died, have been hidden for so long.
He explained: “The way John Callan killed Shirley Banks wasn’t very nice. It’s a worry that he did the same to Suz.
“If we’d found that out when she first went missing it would have made it worse. It would have been horrible for mum and dad and me and my sisters.”
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Yesterday we told how cops and specialist search crews were digging up a property in Sutton Coldfield, West Mids, that once belonged to Cannan’s mum.
They were tipped off that he might have headed back there to bury Suzy’s body after he abducted and killed her.
More information on the trust set up by Suzy’s parents can be found at
10 reasons why he is prime suspect
- Mr Kipper. Cannan was nicknamed “Kipper” by others at a bail hostel where he lived at the time — due to his fondness for the fish and a habit of having a kip.
- Photofit. He bore a strong resemblance to the image of Suzy’s abductor compiled from witnesses.
- False alibi. Cannan claimed he was staying with his mum in Sutton Coldfield and had chatted up a local sales assistant the day that Suzy vanished. The woman confirmed Cannan approached her, but doubts later emerged over whether it was on the same day.
- Brief romance. In 2001, cops uncovered evidence suggesting that Cannan was the “mystery man” Suzy had a brief relationship with.
- Bristol businessman. Suzy said her boyfriend was a Bristol businessman — something Cannan pretended to be with other women.
- Stalking. A witness said they saw Cannan staring into Sturgis estate agents, where Suzy worked, shortly before her disappearance.
- Gifts. Cannan was known for showering women with flowers and champagne. An eyewitness saw a couple matching Suzy and Cannan’s descriptions laying in a local park with a bottle of bubbly beside them on the day she vanished.
- Taxi driver. A cabbie identified Cannan as a man who asked for a lift that lunchtime, while clutching champagne and estate agent house papers.
- The BMW. Detectives suspect Suzy’s killer parked a BMW near the second home in Fulham where she was taking “Mr Kipper” for a viewing in her office Ford Fiesta.
- Joking confession. Cannan joked to a former girlfriend, Gilly Paige, that he was Mr Kipper.
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Timeline
- 28 JULY 1986. Estate agent Suzy is abducted and killed after going to meet client “Mr Kipper”.
- 7 OCTOBER 1986. Cannan rapes a woman after abducting her at knifepoint in Reading.
- 7 OCTOBER 1987. He tries to abduct a woman at gunpoint in Bristol.
- 8 OCTOBER 1987. He kidnaps and murders Shirley Banks in Bristol.
- 29 OCTOBER 1987. Arrested trying to rob a shop in Leamington Spa.
- 30 OCTOBER 1987. Media speculation that Suzy’s murder could be linked to Shirley’s.
- FEBRUARY 1988: Cannan quizzed for first time over Suzy’s murder.
- APRIL 1989: Cannan convicted of rape, attempted abduction, murder and attempted robbery. Given whole life tariff, later reduced to 35-year minimum tariff.
- 1999: Police begin Suzy cold case review.
- 2000: New probe by homicide team.
- JUNE 2002: File sent to CPS recommending Cannan be prosecuted for Suzy’s murder.
- NOVEMBER 2002: CPS say insufficient evidence to prosecute. Police name Cannan as prime suspect.
- JUNE 2008: He loses ap- peal on 35- year tariff.
- OCTOBER 2018: Cops be- gin dig at mum’s old home.
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