The prime suspect of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh's murder is on his deathbed, and her family are now hoping he will reveal the truth before he dies.
John Cannan, 68, was named by police as the chief suspect in the disappearance of 25-year-old Suzy, whose body has never been discovered since her disappearance in 1986.
Cannan is currently receiving end-of-life palliative care in prison and Suzy's family wonder if he holds the key to solving the mystery surrounding her disappearance.
But what happened to Suzy? Who is John Cannan? And what happened during the search? Here we go through the story, sharing how it stands so far.
What do you think about the investigation? Let us know in the comments...
Suzy Lamplugh
Suzy Lamplugh was 25-years-old when she was last seen alive, working as an estate agent for Sturgis, and on July 28, 1986, she left the office in her white Ford Fiesta.
She took her keys and a purse with £15 inside, but left her handbag at the office, and according to details from those who saw her last, she was wearing a grey skirt, dark jacket, and low stiletto heels.
She was due to meet a potential client known only as Mr Kipper, who was a potential buyer of a property on Shorrolds Road, in Fulham, London, but she was never seen again.
She failed to turn up to her next appointment and her manager reported her missing later that day.
When police spoke to witnesses, they said they had seen her arguing with a man outside the property on Shorrolds Road.
They also found her car outside another house for sale on Stevenage Road about a mile-and-a-half away, with the handbrake off.
The ignition key was missing and her purse was in the glove box - prompting police to suspect she had been abducted and launch an investigation.
Officials visited the address given by Mr Kipper but found no one of that name at the property.
In 1993 Suzy was declared dead, presumed murdered, and John Cannan was in 2002 declared the prime suspect - although he has always denied any involvement with her disappearance.
John Cannan
Cannan, nicknamed Kipper, became the prime suspect 16 years after Suzy disappeared, but he had been on the police's radar for many years prior.
Three days before the last sighting of Suzy, Cannan was released from Wormwood Scrubs Prison after serving a six-year sentence for rape.
In 1987, a year after Suzy's disappearance, Cannan murdered newlywed Shirly Banks, and in 1989 he was convicted of rape, attempted abduction, murder, and attempted robbery after a series of crimes against professional young women.
The evening before Shirly Banks' murder, Cannan had attempted to kidnap another woman and a year before he had raped a third woman at knifepoint.
He was handed three life sentences which were later reduced to a minimum term of 35 years, which Cannan tried to appeal but was unsuccessful. He is currently serving his term in Full Sutton prison.
In 2002, cold-case detectives named Cannan as the prime suspect in Suzy's disappearance but the CPS said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute as Cannan insisted he had no involvement in the disappearance.
Later a fellow prison inmate approached police with fresh evidence saying that Suzy's body was buried under Cannan's mother's house in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.
In 2019, Cannan spoke to the Sunday Mirror in a phone call from his cell ahead of an earlier parole bid.
He said: "I had no involvement in the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh.
"I am concerned the police will use Suzy’s disappearance to undermine my parole prospects.
"My concern is that smearing me has become the rule, not the exception.” At the time, Cannan also revealed he was suffering from partial paralysis and needed to use a wheelchair following a stroke.
He claimed the Met were "determined to use me as a convenient peg to hang the disappearance upon".
Retired Det Supt Jim Dickie, who spent six years investigating Suzy’s abduction, said: "Cannan is still a suspect for the disappearance and murder of Suzy Lamplugh.
"He’s extremely manipulative and must not be trusted."
In a previous interview, Suzy’s brother Richard added: "If he’s done it then I would like him to tell us her whereabouts and we can then bury her where we want to bury her, rather than where whoever killed her has buried her.
"We’ve been through so many developments you don’t get your hopes up.
"You accept what comes and if you find her, so be it. Then we will have to cope with whatever comes of it.”
The search
In 2018, the garden of the house in Sutton Coldfield, once owned by Cannan's mum, was dug up by police investigators searching for Suzy's body.
Phillip Carey had bought the property from Sheila Cannan over two decades before and said he was aware of the grim association.
Speaking at the time, he said: "We knew who she was, we became aware who she was as we went through the relationship, and obviously it was high profile at the time."
He said that police were inspecting a garage behind his home, and that the structure had been dismantled before the investigators' attention turned to the concrete floor.
Phillip added that police had visited the property 'on and off' in 2003 and 2004 and had focused on "just the patio... as far as I was aware".
In 2019, police also searched land in Worcestershire, West Midlands, but nothing was found in either search.
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In 2021 a Sky documentary about Suzy's disappearance was aired, and the Metropolitan Police released a statement confirming the investigation was still open - 35 years after her disappearance.
Detective chief inspector Rebecca Reeves, the senior investigating officer, said: "We would urge anyone who believes they might know something about what happened to Suzy all those years ago to come forward.
“Whether you saw something that you thought was unconnected at the time or you felt under pressure to protect someone you knew – it is not too late.
“The passage of time has not weakened our determination to seek justice and get the answers that the Lamplugh family continue to wait for.
“They have always been supportive of our efforts to make progress in the investigation and they have shown remarkable strength despite the immense sadness they have endured over the years.”
Suzy's parents, Diana, who died in 2011, and Paul, who passed away in 2018, set up the Suzy Lamplugh Trust in memory of their daughter.
They campaigned for private hire vehicle licensing in London, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and set up the National Stalking Helpline.
They were both awarded OBEs for their efforts, but in 2016, Paul said he had little hope left of finding out what happened to his daughter.
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