A MAN who owned two houses searched by police hunting missing chef Claudia Lawrence may have been caught on film by her home on the day she disappeared.

A team of more than a dozen officers spent Tuesday scouring two terraced homes in East Parade, York, not far from Miss Lawrence's own home in Heworth Road.

It is understood the properties belonged to Richard Cartwright, 57, who was found dead in his home on April 9 - three weeks after Miss Lawrence, 35, was last seen on March 18.

His death is not being investigated by police. It is thought to have been of natural causes but an inquest has been opened and adjourned to allow reports to be drawn up.

Although police have refused to confirm his identity, they believe the man who owned the properties is the same one who was captured on CCTV walking to the rear of Miss Lawrence's house on the morning she failed to turn up at work.

The CCTV images were widely published in May - and intelligence gathered since then helped lead to Tuesday's searches.

"We believe the property owner was the man on CCTV but we will never be able say that with certainty because he is now dead," said a spokeswoman yesterday.

However the spokeswoman stressed there was no great significance attached to Tuesday's searches.

"They were no more significant than the other searches we have carried out in the course of this inquiry," she said.

Miss Lawrence, who worked at York University's Goodricke College, has now been missing for almost five months and police are treating the case as one of suspected murder.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0845-6060247 or Crimestoppers - who are offering a £10,000 reward - on 0800-555111.