THE father of missing chef Claudia Lawrence has said he has felt the loss of his daughter on every one of the 2,000 days since she went missing.

Peter Lawrence chose today’s (Monday, September 8) painful milestone to renew his attempts to keep his daughter in the public’s mind, in the hope that key information could still be handed to police.

Miss Lawrence, then aged 35, was last seen alive on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 18, 2009, as she walked home from her work as a cook at York University.

She did not turn up for her 6am shift the following day and was reported missing by her father, Peter on March 20, 2009.

Today, Mr Lawrence spoke about his daughter in the peaceful surroundings of the official residence of the Archbishop of York, Bishopthorpe Palace, where a candle has been lit for his daughter in the chapel since she first went missing.

“It’s five and a half years ago, 2,000 days with someone that you loved dearly, missing,” he said.

“So every day it’s that loss. It doesn’t get any better - can’t get any better when, as in Claudia’s case, we don’t know what has happened to her.

“We don’t know where she is or even if she’s alive. We still hope that she is and will come back to us.”

In the last year her family has marked her 40th birthday without her and North Yorkshire Police’s Major Crime Unit announced a number of new leads in the investigation into her disappearance, following a case review.

In March detectives arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of her murder. The suspect remains on police bail and was rebailed last week. In July a second man was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. He has also been rebailed.

The York chef’s disappearance remains one of the UK’s most high profile unsolved cases.

Mr Lawrence said the new investigation and the arrest brought the family new highs and lows, to add to the daily “sense of loss” they felt.

“It’s a rollercoaster; something happens then nothing happens, something else happens...it’s like a rollercoaster.

“Hearing there had been an arrest gives you a bit of a lift. I know that the police have turned up some evidence.”

Mr Lawrence lived in Darlington with his family before moving to Malton, where his daughters Ali and Claudia were brought up. He now lives in York.

Mr Lawrence has also fought to change the law to help families of missing people.

He campaigned for the Presumption of Death Act, which was passed by parliament last year and comes into force on October 1. It allows families to resolve a loved one’s practical affairs.

Mr Lawrence is still pressing the government to introduce a Guardianship act, to allow families to manage someone’s financial arrangements in case of their return.