SUZY LAMPLUGH DISAPPEARANCE: 40 YEARS ON AND THE FINAL PHASE OF THE INVESTIGATION | INFORMING BRITAIN ON CRIME

Suzy Lamplugh was a 25-year-old Estate Agent who disappeared on Monday 28 July 1986 in Fulham, West London.

No trace of her has been found since.

She was declared dead in absentia, presumed murdered, in 1993.

Metropolitan Police investigation into her disappearance remains open as of July 2026 but is scheduled to move to an inactive phase within approximately 12 months. 

Susannah Jane Lamplugh was born on 3 May 1961 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

At the time of her disappearance she worked as a negotiator for Sturgis (also referred to as Sturgis & Sons) Estate Agents at premises on Fulham Road.

She lived in a flat in Putney. 

​On the morning of Monday 28 July 1986 she left the office at approximately 12:30 - 12:40 to meet a client recorded in her appointments diary as "Mr. Kipper" at 12:45 outside 37 Shorrolds Road, Fulham.

The entry, read:

"12.45 Mr Kipper – 37 Shorrolds O/S".

Witnesses reported seeing a woman matching her description at or near the gateway of the property around 12:50.

Further accounts described her with a smartly dressed white male, aged approximately between 25 and 30, of dark complexion with dark hair swept back, possibly with a broken nose, wearing a dark charcoal suit and holding a bottle of champagne with ribbons.

​One witness reported seeing the pair leaving the house and looking back; another reported them entering a car. 

Additional reported sightings later that afternoon included a woman matching Suzy Lamplugh's description driving a white Ford Fiesta erratically, arguing with a male passenger in a dark left-hand-drive BMW near Craven Cottage on Stevenage Road, and with a man on Fulham Palace Road at about 14:45.

​Her company car, a white Ford Fiesta registration B396 GAN, was located at approximately 22:01 that evening outside 123 Stevenage Road, roughly one mile from Shorrolds Road and near another property being marketed by the Estate Agency that Suzy worked for.

The vehicle was unlocked, the handbrake was off, the driver's seat was pushed further back than Suzy Lamplugh normally used it, the keys (including those to the Shorrolds Road property) were missing, and her purse remained inside.

Colleagues had become concerned by 15:30, checked the property, and reported her missing at approximately 17:30.

Metropolitan Police began searching that evening. 

The initial investigation was one of the largest Missing-Person inquiries conducted by Metropolitan Police.

More than 26,000 Index Cards of tip-offs, witnesses and persons of interest were compiled and retained in a carousel filing system.

The case remains the only Metropolitan Police inquiry still using this 1980s card-index system.

Early searches of Lamplugh’s flat and interviews with associates, including her boyfriend, produced no significant leads.

A PhotoFit (now called E-FIT) of the man described by witnesses was circulated.

Red roses had been delivered to the office by an unidentified man in the days before the disappearance.

Suzy Lamplugh had tinted her hair blonde a few days earlier. 

In 1993 she was declared dead in absentia​, presumed murdered.

The case was reviewed and re-investigated in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Computerisation of the card index, further witness interviews following BBC Crimewatch reconstructions, and examination of links to other offences were undertaken.

Multiple searches for remains were conducted over subsequent years, including land near Norton Barracks and Pershore in Worcestershire (2000, 2010 and 2019), a property in Sutton Coldfield associated with the family of a suspect (2018), stretches of Grand Union Canal (2014 and later), and other sites.

None yielded evidence connected to Suzy Lamplugh.

DNA testing was carried out on unidentified remains matching her general description; none matched.

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of adhesive tape from the headrest of her car, performed in United States, produced no usable profile.

A smudged fingerprint on the rear-view mirror remains unidentified.

John Cannan (born 1954, died 6 November 2024) was named by Metropolitan Police as the prime suspect in 2002.

He had been released from HMP Wormwood Scrubs on 25 July 1986, three days before the disappearance, and was on day release working in the Fulham area.

Circumstantial links cited by investigators included his presence in the locality, ownership of or access to a dark left-hand-drive BMW.

John Cannan was known to be called "Kipper" due to his unusual liking for the fish and taking a "kip" (a nap).

Furthermore, John Cannan was known to visit local wine bars and Estate Agents, and statements from people who knew him confirmed this.

He was convicted in 1989 of the 1987 murder of Shirley Banks in Bristol (among other offences including rape and abduction) and received life sentences.

Shirley Banks was a 29-year-old Factory Manager from the Bristol area of United Kingdom.

She was abducted by John Cannan on 8 October 1987, and was held by Cannan for approximately 18 hours before he murdered her.

Her body was later discovered in Dead Woman’s Ditch on the Quantock Hills in Somerset.

Shirley Banks owned and drove an orange Mini Clubman, which also disappeared around the time of her murder. 

Three weeks after her disappearance, Avon & Somerset Police searching John Cannan's black BMW found the Tax Disc from her Mini inside a briefcase in the glove compartment.  ​

​The Mini Clubman itself was subsequently located in a lock-up garage belonging to a block of flats where Cannan lived (in Bristol/Leigh Woods area).

The car had been painted blue (in an amateur fashion) and fitted with false Number Plates reading SLP 386S - the original Number Plates read HWL 507N.

The false Number Plates fitted to Shirley Banks' car included the sequence SLP 386S.

Investigating Officers interpreted the Number Plate as a possible deliberate reference to Suzy Lamplugh:
​
Other characteristics of the Number Plate Avon & Somerset Police, later Metropolitan Police, examined whether “386” related to a map reference.

Shirley Banks' body was found near Northing Line 386, and Norton Manor Barracks (a site previously linked to Cannan) is near 3° 08′ 06″ West.

Speculation over the four-decade-long case has pointed to other theories surrounding the "386:
​

• John Cannan being released from his prison hostel three days before Suzy Lamplugh disappeared (released 25 July 1986; she vanished on 28 July), or  
• Suzy Lamplugh being viewed by John Cannan as a "third" victim.​

John Cannan was arrested and interviewed in connection with Suzy Lamplugh’s disappearance in 2000 and 2001.

A file was submitted to Crown Prosecution Service in 2002.

Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge him.

No forensic evidence has been found that links him directly to Suzy Lamplugh.

Other suspects examined over the years, including Michael Sams and Steve Wright, were eliminated.

After John Cannan’s death in HMP Full Sutton, Prison Officers examined material from his cell and prison writings; no new evidence was identified.

A forensic review of significant material in Suzy Lamplugh's case was completed in 2024 and produced no new DNA or fingerprint evidence. 

Metropolitan Police continue to hold 178 boxes of notes and materials, approximately 3,000 files on their Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES) system, and the original 26,000 Index Cards.

Detective Chief Inspector Teresa Foster of the cold-case homicide team is the Senior Investigating Officer.

As of July 2026 the team is following up approximately 30 potential witness leads.

Police Officers have stated that the priority remains the location of Suzy Lamplugh’s remains.

The investigation is scheduled to move to an inactive phase in approximately 12 months (around July 2027).

In the inactive phase new information will still be assessed and followed up, but the case will no longer be actively worked as a priority.

Metropolitan Police have indicated that future advances in forensic science, Artificial Intelligence applied to case documentation, or information from individuals who may have relevant knowledge could still produce a resolution.
​
​The case is treated as an open murder investigation. 

Suzy Lamplugh’s parents, Paul and Diana Lamplugh, established Suzy Lamplugh Trust in December 1986.

The Trust continues to work on personal safety, stalking and related issues, including operation of National Stalking Helpline.

Both parents are deceased (Diana in 2011, Paul in 2018).

On the 40th anniversary of the disappearance, Suzy Lamplugh's siblings released previously unpublished family photographs and issued a statement through Suzy Lamplugh Trust. 

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A witness known as "Dave" told Emilia Fox on Channel 4's documentary programme In The Footsteps Of Killers that at around 05:00 on 31 July 1986 he saw a man resembling John Cannan pushing a large suitcase or holdall on a trolley along the towpath of Grand Union Canal near Gallows Bridge in Brentford, West London; moments later he heard a splash and saw the man running away empty-handed.

The section of Grand Union Canal near Gallows Bridge in Brentford was searched by Metropolitan Police in September 2014 during the investigation into the murder of teenager Alice Gross (an unrelated case).

Nothing connected to Suzy Lamplugh was found.

In a Sky News report marking the 40th anniversary of Suzy Lamplugh's disappearance, crime correspondent Martin Brunt examines whether a long-overlooked witness account could yet help locate her remains.

Martin Brunt focuses on a key theory that Suzy Lamplugh's body may have been disposed of in a stretch of Grand Union Canal in west London, a few miles from where she was last seen in Fulham in July 1986.

Martin Brunt revisits the claim of a man, later identified in other reports as "Dave", who said he saw someone resembling prime suspect John Cannan pushing a large suitcase or holdall on a trolley along the towpath near Gallows Bridge in Brentford in the early hours of 31 July 1986, followed by a splash.

Although that section of canal was searched in 2014 during an unrelated investigation and yielded nothing connected to Suzy Lamplugh, the report considers whether further examination or new information might still prove useful.

Martin Brunt also spoke to Suzy Lamplugh's sisters about their continuing hope of finding answers and of bringing their sister home, while noting Metropolitan Police's current plan to follow up around 30 potential witness leads before the case is expected to move to an inactive phase.

​The piece places the witness theory within the wider context of one of Britain’s most enduring unsolved missing-person investigations.

As of this time, no body has been recovered and no-one has been charged in connection with the disappearance.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS (IN BRIEF):

• 28 July 1986: Suzy Lamplugh disappeared after leaving Sturgis (Estate Agency) in Fulham (age 25) for a property appointment.  The appointment was recorded in her diary as meeting "Mr Kipper" outside 37 Shorrolds Road.
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• 28 July 1986: Her company car was found abandoned on Stevenage Road, Fulham. Lamplugh herself was not seen again.
  
  
• 1993: After extensive enquiries and public appeals (including national media coverage), Suzy Lamplugh was declared dead in absentia. 
  
  
• 2000-2010: Detectives identified convicted murderer John Cannan as their prime suspect.  He had been released from jail just days before Suzy Lamplugh vanished and was later imprisoned for a different murder . Forensic checks showed Suzy Lamplugh had been in a car owned by John Cannan, but there was not enough evidence to charge him.
  
  
• 2024: John Cannan died in HMP Full Sutton.
  
  
• 28 July 2026: Scotland Yard’s cold-case unit launched a final push to solve Suzy Lamplugh’s disappearance.  Metropolitan Police say they will trace roughly 30 leads or witnesses over the next year.  If those investigations fail to produce new information, the case will move to an "inactive" or mothballed status (meaning detectives will still respond to any fresh tips but will not actively work the case day-to-day).

​​Metropolitan Police continue to request that anyone with information contact them.

Those with information can contact Metropolitan Police on 101, alternatively those who wish to remain anonymous can do so by giving details to CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111.

If you have been affected by issues raised in this article please contact Samaritans on 116123.