Suzy Lamplugh

Suzy Lamplugh went missing on 28 July 1986 after going to show a property in Fulham, London, to a prospective buyer. Her body has not been found, but she is presumed to have been murdered.

She had worked at Stugis, an estate agents at 654 Fulham Road and was last seen on Monday 28 July 1986 when she left to show a man known as 'Mr Kipper' around a property at 37 Shorrolds Road in Fulham.

The walk from her office in Fulham Road to the house at 37 Shorrolds Road would have taken her about 15 minutes, although it’s not known exactly how she got there. She had left the office with her purse, keys and property details, leaving her handbag behind.

Her car, a white Ford Fiesta, registration B396 GAN, was found later the same day near Fulham football ground in Stevenage Road. It was unlocked and her purse was inside.

A general timeline of events on 28 July 1986 is:

• 12.40pm: Suzy Lamplugh leaves the estate agent's office.
• 12.45pm: First sighting of Suzy Lamplugh's car parked in Stevenage Road.
• 12.50pm: Suzy Lamplugh seen standing outside 37 Shorrolds Road.
• 1.00pm: Mr Kipper seen with Suzy Lamplugh outside 37 Shorrolds Road.
• 1.05pm: Suzy Lamplugh and Mr Kipper seen walking away.
• 2.45pm: Suzy Lamplugh seen driving along Fulham Palace Road.
• 6.45pm: Suzy Lamplugh reported missing.
• 10.02pm: Suzy Lamplugh's car found in Stevenage Road.

A detective said:

A neighbour in Shorrolds Road said that she saw Suzy Lamplugh and a man leave the house, saying:

The description that the neighbour gave of the man that had been seen with Suzy Lamplugh was:

• White.
• Aged 25-30
• Smartly dressed in charcoal dark suit.
• 5ft 7in tall.
• Black hair swept back.
• Dark complexion.
• Possibly with a broken nose.

The man that made the appointment, using the name Mr Kipper, was thought to have done so by phone and gave a false address, although it was also noted that there was no evidence of that, it being observed that it might have been clear, even to Suzy Lamplugh that it was a false and made up name.

Following her disappearance, it was first thought that Suzy Lamplugh might have run off.

Suzy Lamplugh had lived in a flat in Disreali Road in Putney which she owned and shared with a lodger. She had got up on the morning she vanished at about 7.45am.

She had also had a boyfriend, a 27-year-old stockbroker.

Just after 8.30am Suzy Lamplugh set off for work in Fulham Road in her company car, a 10 minute drive. She had been with Stugis for just over a year and worked as a negotiator, her job involving her taking on new clients and taking them round properties. It was noted that sometimes she would have as many as six houses to show in a day.

It was also noted that her desk was by the window, with it being stated that she had been placed there to attract new customers as she was an attractive girl and that her killer might well have been to the office beforehand and seen her at work.

At 12.40pm she left the office, and as was often the case, she told no one where she was going, or when she would be back. As well as her own keys and purse, she took with her property details and keys for 37 Shorrolds Road.

However, it wasn't clear what happened after she left the office. However, it was stated that there was no doubt that she had gone to 37 Shorrolds Road.

It was noted that there were three streets in Fulham that provided vital sightings.

1. Shorrolds Road.
2. Stevenage Road.
3. Fulham Palace Road.

Shorrolds Road

She was seen outside 37 Shorrolds Road by three witnesses.

The first witness had been on his way home. He said that he saw Suzy Lamplugh standing in the gateway to the property at about 12.50pm, noting that she seemed to be waiting for someone.

She was seen about ten minutes later, about 1pm, by the second witness, a man that had lived next door to 37 Shorrolds Road. He said that he heard someone leaving 37 Shorrolds Road as he was sitting on his sofa reading a newspaper and that when he turned to look he saw a man and a woman leaving and then turning to stare up towards the roof of the property. It was his sighting that led to an artist’s impression being made of the man.

The third witness saw Suzy Lamplugh and the man at about the same time, 1pm, again, seeing them both staring up towards the property roofline. The witness said that he remembered that the man had been carrying a bottle of champagne with ribbons on it. From his description of the man, the police produced a different artists impression of the man he saw.

However, it was noted that Suzy Lamplugh's car was never seen in Shorrolds road, but a number of people did see it a mile away in Stevenage Road. However, it was also later noted that some witnesses claimed to have seen two white Ford Fiesta cars in the road.

It was later reported that a blue BMW car was seen double parked in Shorrolds Road.

Stevenage Road

It was noted that Stevenage Road was a five minute drive from the office, and that it was five minutes after she left the office that the first sighting of Suzy Lamplugh’s car in Stevenage Road came.

The first witness in Stevenage Road saw her car at about 12.45pm as she was leaving her home to go shopping. She said that as she left her home she saw Suzy Lamplugh's white Ford Fiesta parked immediately opposite her house.

Then, just before 2pm, a black taxi-cab driver who lived close by also saw her car parked up in the same spot.

Then, at 3.30pm, the woman that lived opposite the place where the car was parked, returned home, and said that the car was in exactly the same place, slightly over lapping the entrance to a neighbours garage.

The car was seen again at about 5.15pm by the owner of the garage when he got home and parked his car in the garage.

Other witnesses said that they saw the car there in the same position and it was thought that it had been there all afternoon.

However, it was noted that there was some conflicting evidence, that being of a sighting of Suzy Lamplugh and her car in Fulham Palace Road.

It was also noted that a couple had been seen arguing in Stevenage Road between 2pm and 2.30pm. They were seen by a bearded man that hailed a cab and when he got in he told the cab driver about the couple he had just seen arguing and the police appealed for the bearded man to come forward in order that they could try to eliminate the couple from their investigation.

Her car was found later that night in the same spot by the police after Suzy Lamplugh had been reported missing and the search for her began.

It was also later noted that it was possible that Suzy Lamplugh had intended or had shown someone another house in Stevenage Road that was very close to where her car was found, but there is not a lot of information about that.

It was also noted that a jogger said that he had seen a couple fighting in a BMW car further along Stevenage Road nearer to the football stadium.

Fulham Palace Road

It was noted that Fulham Palace Road was about half a mile from Stevenage Road.

At about 2.45pm, a friend of Suzy Lamplugh had been riding along Fulham Palace Road when she said she saw Suzy Lamplugh driving towards her, noting that she had no doubt about that. She said that she waved, but that Suzy Lamplugh had been speaking to her passenger, and didn't see her. She added that at the time she was convinced that it was her car that she saw her driving, but later admitted that it might have been one that was similar. She noted additionally that she didn't get a chance to see the man as Suzy Lamplugh had been turned towards him and she was concentrating on her rather than him.

It was noted that Suzy Lamplugh's friend, a 25-year-old had herself been a partner in a flat-finding business.

She said of Suzy Lamplugh:

Raising The Alarm

By 3.30pm that afternoon, the manager at Sturgis said that they were becoming concerned by Suzy Lamplugh's absence and when they looked at her desk diary they noticed an appointment for 12.45pm with a Mr Kipper.

Then, at 4.30pm they went to 37 Shorrolds Road to see if she had got herself locked in or something like that. However, they didn't get an answer and so called round to some local hospitals to see if she had been involved in a car accident or something, but with no results. They spent a couple of hours calling around and then after checking her home and with her mother they reported her missing to the police at about 5.30pm.

At about 9pm the police started a search for her car and found it still parked up in the same place in Stevenage Road at 10.01pm.

The driver’s door was found to be unlocked and inside was her purse. However, neither her own keys, nor the keys to 37 Shorrolds Road or the property details were ever found. It was noted that the keys to 37 Shorrolds Road would have been attached to a distinctive bright yellow Stugis company fob, an image of which was later released.

It was also noted that the driving seat was also pushed back from Suzy Lamplugh's normal driving position.

A photograph of Suzy Lamplugh was later released showing her on the night of Saturday 26 July 1986, just two days before she disappeared.

The police stated that based on the fact that Suzy Lamplugh's car was found in Stevenage Road, having been seen almost exactly five minutes after she left the office, that they thought that Suzy Lamplugh did know the man she had taken to 37 Shorrolds Road.

Missing Person

It was noted that because Suzy Lamplugh was only considered a missing person at first, known criminals in the area were not considered as suspects, which would have included the 2002 suspect that the police later confirmed was the only suspect they had. It was also noted that they had not been using computers at the time and were using the older card indexing system, which had had about 26,000 cards in it.

Kidnapping

It was considered that she might have been kidnapped and taken abroad on a freighter, but no ransom was ever asked for and the possibility was discounted.

It was however noted that the possible kidnapper might have been called Dan as if the letters of the name Dan Kipper were rearranged they spelt Kidnapper.

Suzy Lamplugh's mother later claimed in October 1986 that her daughter could have been smuggled out of the country from one of the many small harbours and coves in South Devon.

Ran away

It was also considered that Suzy Lamplugh might have run away and had been in hiding.

Wargames

It was noted that Suzy Lamplugh loved playing woodland wargames at Cobham in Surrey and the police said that they had interviewed people that had taken part in the games following a tip off from People investigators.

It was heard that she was associated with a group of people who staged military escapades and that her diaries revealed that she had revelled in the outdoor pursuits that involved mock battles using dummy paint bullets. It was reported that whilst playing the wargames that Suzy Lamplugh would have been kitted out in a camouflage jacket and protective goggles and mask and that players would crawl through the countryside tracking and killing enemies. It was stated that the objective would be to splatter the enemy team with paint bullets and thereby eliminate them.

It was further noted that one team had been known as Yom Kippur, after the 1973 Middle East war.

The police said:

Declared Dead

In 1993 Suzy Lamplugh was officially declared dead and presumed murdered. However, it was thought that the police had considered that she was dead much earlier on, with a statement on 30 July 1987 relating to the possibility saying:

£50m Mortgage Fraud

In November 1987 the police said that one of the new theories being considered was that there might have been a connection between her disappearance and a £50m mortgage fraud being investigated by Scotland Yard.

The police said that two facts pointed to the possible link.

1. That as an estate agent, Suzy Lamplugh might have stumbled across the fraud.
2. That her father had been the secretary of the Law Society's ethics and guidance committee responsible for striking off solicitors.

It was noted that the fraud involved 100s of London properties and that most of those under investigation had been solicitors, estate agents and accountants.

However, the police noted that it wasn't a serious possibility, just that they were not discounting anything.

Suzy Lamplugh's mother however said that it was the first theory in the year-long hunt that could provide a motive strong enough to link with her disappearance.

2002 Suspect

In 2002 Scotland Yard took the unprecedented move of declaring a known convicted murderer as the only suspect in the case. However, the Crown Prosecution Service said that there wasn't enough evidence to charge him. He was a serial rapist and murderer. The police interviewed him four times over the murder, but he continued to deny killing her.

Points of alleged evidence against him include:

1. He looked like one of the artists impressions of the man seen outside 37 Shorrolds Road with Suzy Lamplugh.
2. He used the alias Kipper whilst in prison earlier for rape.
3. Following his arrest for murder, his victims Mini car was found in his garage with false number plates that read: SLP 386S which it was suggested he had chosen as a reference to Suzy Lamplugh, SLP and the year she was murdered 86.
4. He was released from prison three days before Suzy Lamplugh vanished. He had been living in a prison hostel near Wormwood Scrubs at the time. However, in the months before his release he had been on day release and had worked as a porter.
5. During the late 1970s and into 1980 there were a number of mysterious rapes in homes for sale in the West Midlands where the man had been living at the time whilst his marriage was failing which reflected a pattern that could be connected to the case of Suzy Lamplugh.
6. It was suspected that he had called at another house in Shorrolds Road that was for sale in the days before Suzy Lamplugh vanished and behaved suspiciously when a woman answered the door, but that the person that had called had left when her husband came to see what was happening.
7. It was suspected that Suzy Lamplugh might have been stalked and that a number of circumstantial points suggested that the stalker might have been the suspect. These points included someone stealing Suzy Lamplugh's handbag from a pub although it was soon after found, looking at her through the estate agents window, sending her flowers and the man later stating that he had visited some of the pubs that Suzy Lamplugh had visited.
8. He had a history of rape and other violent offences against women.
9. He had links to Bristol and Suzy Lamplugh had mentioned to a friend that she had seen someone from Bristol but had then become frightened of him.
10. Witnesses later said that they saw a couple struggling in a black BMW in Stevenage Road not far from where Suzy Lamplugh left her car and it was suggested that it could have been Suzy Lamplugh and the man, as the man was alleged to have had a black BMW at that time.

In 2023 the man had a parole hearing but failed in his attempt to be released. They said that they believed that he remained a danger to the public. He had first become eligible for release in 2022 after serving over 33 years in prison.

The man was first looked into in November 1987 following the disappearance of Shirley Banks. At the time he had been living in Bridge Road, Leigh Woods in Bristol. It was reported on 9 November 1986 that the police were reopening the Suzy Lamplugh case because of the similarities between the two cases. Shirley Banks, being 29-years-old and having also vanished.

It was noted that the man's brother had appealed to him to reveal where Suzy Lamplugh was, and had concluded that he would never say, whilst other people that have written to him or studied him have concluded that he will never tell as he was a control freak. However, it was noted that he had told someone that he would reveal the location of where Suzy Lamplugh  is buried when his mother died.

Inspection of 37 Shorrolds Road

It was reported that it had been assumed that Suzy Lamplugh had shown Mr Kipper around 37 Shorrolds Road, but noted that that might not have been the case as it would have been the speediest house-viewing in history. It was stated that there was no evidence that Suzy Lamplugh had in fact shown Mr Kipper around and that although they might have gone inside, that they could not have been there more than ten minutes.

It was noted that 37 Shorrolds Road had been on the market at the time for £130,000.

Mr Kipper's Telephone Appointment

It was reported that Mr Kipper had called to fix their meeting on the morning Suzy Lamplugh vanished. However, it was noted that the police had stated that the appointment could have been made at any time and that the house had been on the market for a week.

How Suzy Lamplugh Got To Shorrolds Road

It was reported that it was assumed that Suzy Lamplugh drove from her office to her appointment in Sherrolds Road. However, her car was found in Stevenage Road where she might have parked before work or after leaving her office and that she had either walked to Shorrolds Road from the office, from Stevenage Road or been given a lift. It was reported that the question of why Suzy Lamplugh might have tried to drive to Sherrolds Road, an area with bad parking, when she could have walked, was not resolved.

Stevenage Road Theory

One theory reported was that Suzy Lamplugh's movement on the day she vanished were:

• 12.45pm: She left her office in Fulham and walked to her car to drive to her appointment but that Mr Kipper or her killer had been watching her leave and caught up with her and asked her for a lift.
• 12.40pm: Mr Kipper asked Suzy Lamplugh to drop him at a building where he wanted to do business and invited her in and that Suzy Lamplugh, expecting to be out quickly, left her purse in her car. However, the building was empty and Mr Kipper killed her.
• 12.43pm: Having concealed her body in the empty building, Mr Kipper returned to Suzy Lamplugh's car, pushed back the seat, and drove it off to Stevenage Road and switched to his own car.
• 12.50pm: Mr Kipper then went to a pub for a regular drink with friends.
• 6.45pm: Suzy Lamplugh reported missing.
• 10.01pm: Police find Suzy Lamplugh's car.
• Midnight: Mr Kipper returned to the empty house and collected Suzy Lamplugh's body and disposed of it.

Although the theory was said to have been examined by the police, it is not clear who came up with it.

Rape Link

On 5 October 1987 the police said that they were considering a link to a rape of a 19-year-old woman at an address in SW1 on either 2 or 3 September 1987, noting that the attacker resembled the description of Mr Kipper.

Other Theories and Leads

Although the police later suggested that the convicted rapist and murderer was the only suspect in the case, there were a number of other theories and leads considered.

Blue BMW Saloons

It was noted that the police interviewed 2,500 owners of blue BMW saloons like the one seen parked near the house where Suzy Lamplugh was due to meet Mr Kipper. The BMW was described as having been double parked at the time, causing witnesses to have to navigate around it.

The police said that they believed the blue BMW that was seen parked near 37 Shorrolds Road was a key factor.

It was suggested that the driver of the BMW had followed Suzy Lamplugh to Stevenage Road where she had abandoned her car and that he had then driven her to Shorrolds Road.

Stevenage Road BMW

Another witness stated that he  saw a blonde woman struggling with a man in a BMW car in Stevenage Road some distance from where Suzy Lamplugh's car was found. He said that he had been jogging at the time, coming out of Bishop's Park into Stevenage Road near to the Fulham Football Club ground, and saw the woman struggling and heard the horn of the car being sounded as though to attract attention.

He said:

His statement was dismissed at the time as he had said the woman had had blonde hair, but it was later noted that Suzy Lamplugh had in fact died her hair a couple of days earlier.

It was also noted that a Belgium left-hand drive BMW was later found abandoned in Queens Grove, St John's Wood in January 1987, having been stolen, but it was later reported that the person responsible for it had been able to show that the car had been in a garage in Belgium at the time, with it being found that the car was not stolen until September 1986 and that it had been stolen from Belgium and then taken to England.

Suzy Lamplugh's Car

Suzy Lamplugh's car had been a white 1.1 Ford Fiesta registration B396 GAN. It was noted that the police had been unable to explain why Suzy Lamplugh's purse was still in her car or why the driving seat had been pushed back. It was also noted that the handbrake was not on, indicating that the car might have been parked in haste.

It was also reported that witnesses said they had seen two white Ford Fiesta cars in Sharrolds Road on the day.

Champagne Lunch

It was suggested that Suzy Lamplugh might have been lured to a champagne lunch with the man that she had met and the police appealed for anyone that might have seen her between 1pm and 2.45pm, adding that they were visiting hotels, wine bars, and pubs that they might have gone to.

In August 1986 a milkman said that he had seen Suzy Lamplugh's car in an alley next to the Boulevard Restaurant on 28 July 1986, leading to the possibility that she had been there for a lunch date with Mr Kipper.

Second House

Although Suzy Lamplugh was assumed to have shown Mr Kipper the property at 37 Sherrolds Road, it was noted that there had been another house on the estate agents books that she might have shown him and that that was in Stevenage Road, exactly opposite where her car was found. Both properties were examined by the police, but no clues were found.

Run Away

It was suggested from the beginning that Suzy Lamplugh had known Mr Kipper and had run away with him an further reported that the police had not ruled out that possibility, although they later concluded that she had been murdered by the convicted rapist and murderer.

The police said that they were holding Suzy Lamplugh's passport and were keeping an eye on her bank accounts, but nothing was reported to have been withdrawn from her account.

The police said that they had to accept the possibility that Suzy Lamplugh had gone off on her own, but stated that there was no evidence to suggest that she had, adding that from what they knew of her, it was extremely unlikely.

Newport Connection

It was noted that investigators went to Newport in West Wales after it was reported that a small boat called Kipper had disappeared from its moorings directly below Suzy Lamplugh's family holiday home on a remote stretch of the coast there near Cardigan in Dyfed. However, the boat and owner were later found and eliminated from the enquiry.

Suzy Lamplugh 's Mother

In December 1986 Suzy Lamplugh's mother was reported to have said that she believed that her daughter was dead and that she thought that she knew who did it, why and how. However, she  was reported to have added:

She was then said to have added:

She was said to have then gone on to say that she didn't believe that Suzy Lamplugh had taken a telephone call from 'Mr Kipper', even though the diary entry was clearly in her handwriting.

She was reported to have said:

It was further noted that the police agreed that there was no evidence that Suzy Lamplugh had received a call from Mr Kipper.

She was also said to have said that it was assumed that she had left the office to go to her car, but that she believed she never drove it.

She was said to have said:

When she was asked what exactly she thought happened to her daughter, she was reported to have said:

However, it was reported that it was not known what she had meant by that.

However, it was further reported in December 1986  that Suzy Lamplugh's mother denied having ever said that she believed her daughter was dead or that she knew who killed her and where, stating:

The Belgium Connection

In January 1987 a 2-litre Series Five BMW was found in Queens Grove, St John's Wood, just five miles away from where Suzy Lamplugh vanished and in the glove compartment the police found ID for a Mr Kipper. However, the car was traced to Belgium to a 33-year-old diamond dealer who said he had borrowed it from its owner, a Mr Kipper and that it had then been stolen in the summer of 1986. The police went out to see him and were satisfied that he had been in Belgium at the time after producing a garage receipt for having had the car serviced on 28 July 1986. He said that the name Kipper had been his mother's maiden name and that he had sometimes used it for business reasons.

The car was also examined forensically and determined to have had no connection with Suzy Lamplugh's disappearance.

The car had been reported missing in the Belgian coastal resort of Knokke-Heist on 20 September 1986 after which it was presumably taken to London where it was abandoned.

Sightings

There were a number of claimed sightings associated with the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh.

1. Pease Pottage: Mr Kipper was said to have been seen in Pease Pottage in August 1986 with a woman.
2. Greek holiday island: Suzy Lamplugh was said to have been spotted by three estate agents on holiday in November 1986 and when approached, pretended, unconvincingly to be a Greek  tourist.

Areas Searched

There were a number of areas searched during the investigation.

1. Fulham Tower Block: Suzy Lamplugh’s mother arranged personally for a search of some empty flats at a tower block in Fulham and for the draining of six large sewage tanks at the flats.
2. Denham Place: Denham Place was a 17th century mansion that had been vacant from around the time Suzy Lamplugh vanished. The police said that they searched it after receiving information, but found nothing and said they anticipated no further searches there.
3. Norton Barracks was searched in 1999 following new evidence relating to the convicted rapist and murderer. A brickworks near Norton Barracks was also later searched in 2000, and a field off the B4084 near Norton Barracks was also searched by the police in 2010.
4. Dead Woman's Ditch was also searched as it was where the main suspect dumped his murder victim in 1987 and it was suggested that the false numberplate that was found on her Mini car, SLP 386S was a reference to a map reference that matched the location.
5. The police dug up the patio of the convicted rapist and murderer's mother's house in Sutton Coldfield in December 2002 after an inmate said that the convicted rapist and murderer had indicated that he had disposed of Suzy Lamplugh there.
6. Land in Pershore was searched in 2019.
7. Claims that a man had been seen dumping a suitcase into the Grand Union Canal on 28 July 1986 were made but the police noted that the stretch of canal referred to had been searched in September 2014 during another unrelated search and nothing had been found.

Unidentified Bodies

Over the years, the police have tested the DNA of 800 unidentified bodies and skeletal remains that matched her description in an effort to trace her remains.

Controversial Book

In 1988 a journalist published a book which claimed that Suzy Lamplugh might have been involved in prostitution. However, the suggestion was denied by both Suzy Lamplugh's parents and the Metropolitan Police, with its content being widely labelled as salacious and false.

Suzy Lamplugh's Flat Sold

In November 1986 it was reported that Suzy Lamplugh's parents were selling her flat in Putney.

Suzy Lamplugh's Background

Suzy Lamplugh had been a beautician before she worked at the estate agents. Her father had been a solicitor with the Law Society. Suzy Lamplugh had had a lodger living with her at her flat at the time.

Suzy Lamplugh's Dyslexia

Suzy Lamplugh was noted for having had dyslexia which it was said meant that she mixed up telephone numbers and wasn't always logical with the sequence of words.