THE mother of a missing woman whose disappearance has been potentially linked to killer Christopher Halliwell has criticised the allocation of a reported £40,000 for police to investigate any further offences.
Joan Lawrence, whose daughter Claudia has been missing since March 2009, called for more money to be investigate the disappearance of 12 women linked to Halliwell.
The 35-year-old was reported missing when she failed to report for her chef’s job at York University’s Goodricke College and no one has been held to account for her disappearance despite a £1m murder inquiry.
Ms Lawrence, pictured above, from Darlington, said: "There are so many other people and crimes that Halliwell has been linked to. It's impossible for the force to carry out a proper review with such a small amount of money."
Halliwell is currently serving life in jail for killing Sian O’Callaghan, 22, and 20-year-old Becky Godden.
And her concerns have been echoed by Becky's mother Karen Edwards, who described as "insulting" the reported funding allocation to continue investigating the jailed cab driver.
"It's an insult to the memory of those who are still waiting for loved ones to come home," Ms Edwards said.
"You will never, ever, ever get closure but if the police response was adequate then at least some loved ones could put them to rest.
"To put £40,000 into the investigation is despicable.
"It just makes me sick. They should be doing more to help the loved ones of his victims so they can give them the burial they should have."
The cold-case review codenamed, Operation Major, aims to further investigate cab driver Halliwell, pictured below.
Detective Superintendent Jeremy Carter, of Wiltshire Police, said the figure does not give a true reflection of the cost of the investigation.
He said: “The figure of £40,000 does not cover any of the salaries of those working on this case but relates purely to specialist work such as forensic digs and searches, and specific expert advice.
“Officers working on this case carry out a vast amount of work as part of their daily duties which would not be captured in this figure.”
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