Exactly 40 years after her disappearance, new insights have emerged in the case of Suzy Lamplugh, the 25-year-old estate agent who vanished from Fulham. Detectives now suspect she may have been stalked after her employers required her to sit by the shop window to draw in customers.
Disappearance and Initial Investigation
Suzy Lamplugh was last seen at work on July 28, 1986. She told colleagues she was meeting a client to show a property but never returned. A massive police investigation followed, but her body was never found. She was declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1994.
Detective Chief Inspector Teresa Foster, who leads the Metropolitan Police’s cold case homicide squad, said: "I do think that she was targeted. She was put in the window because her employers thought she was attractive and would bring in people. I’m more inclined to believe that stalking side, that someone has seen her, a predator of some type, and then lured her into a false meeting."
Stalking and Safety Concerns 40 Years On
Emma Lingley-Clark, interim CEO of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, told the Press Association: "It’s something that is actually a really sad fact that 40 years on from Suzy’s disappearance, we are still having to do the work that we do around campaigning and supporting victims. Ideally, I think we’d all have hoped that by now, perhaps some of these issues might have gone away. But for us, the cause is still very much there."
According to the trust, around 40 per cent of stalking cases reported to the national helpline involve perpetrators who are not partners or ex-partners, but friends, colleagues, or strangers. Police note that stalking has evolved with online apps and social media, urging vigilance against those who repeatedly appear at locations, ex-partners seeking re-entry, or individuals showing excessive interest.
Call for Better Support and Awareness
Ms Lingley-Clark emphasized the need for victims to be taken seriously and for better access to specialist stalking advocates. "Often, they can access support, but it’s not somebody who actually understands stalking, understands the dynamic nature of the risk and how it changes. And I think more generally, we would like to just have society believe that stalking is wrong. I think in some instances we’re still seeing quite a lot of jokes made about stalking and really not reflecting the serious nature of it and how actually it has such a big impact on victims."
The prime suspect in Ms Lamplugh's case, John Cannan, died in November 2024. He was jailed in 1989 for the rape and murder of Bristol newlywed Shirley Banks, along with other offences. In 2002, he was named as the prime suspect in Suzy's disappearance, which he denied.
