Claudia Lawrence Missing Photo Is Inaccurate
CLAUDIA Lawrence is missing. You’ve seen the photo of her with her blond-ish hair.
But it turns out that Lawrence dyed her hair brown before she disappeared.
Sky News calls this “a potentially crucial fact in an inquiry relying on public sightings”.
But is it? Is it likely you will spot the missing woman in the street, the pub or at the shops? And if you do, would she be missing by choice?
Thousands of photographs showing Claudia with light-coloured, almost blonde hair have been circulated by the police since the 35-year-old chef failed to turn up for work at the University of York a month ago.
But now:
Claudia’s friends say her hair was “mid-brown” when she vanished and not light-coloured.
Says Claudia’s hair stylist, Nick Brignell:
“The last time she came here was Saturday, February 21. She used to ring me up after an appointment to tell me I’d made it too blonde, so on this occasion we weaved some dark through it instead to make it more brown…
“Her hair still had blonde in it,” he said, “but not as much.”
Adding:
“I know that she would colour it herself using a warm chestnut dye between visits.”
Claudia Lawrence, 35, went missing on March 19, 2009.she has not been seen since. There have been no reported sightings of her.
Sky adds:
Official guidance for detectives from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) stresses the importance of giving the correct description of a missing person.
A policy document on the ACPO website, “Guidance on The Management, Recording and Investigation of Missing Persons”, states that photographs issued to the media should be recent and that officers “should ensure that the description is completely accurate.”
Well, yes. Photos of a missing person are not all that good if they do not resemble the missing person.
But it is just another picture. The snap reveals little else other than the colour of the missing person’s clothes when the picture was taken and their expression.
So have you seen Claudia? And have you seen those other people who are missing?
We look at the photo. And we read the story beneath. And we realise that most missing people don’t want to be found then they won’t be.
In real life people change. It’s only their “last pictures” that remain the same…
Posted: 21st, April 2009 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
