MISSING chef Claudia Lawrence was planning to start a new life in Cyprus before she vanished almost four years ago, we reveal todayHorse lover Claudia had asked Scottish ex pat Robbie Campbell to get her a job at a stables  on the sun kissed Mediterranean island.
Claudia vanished  in 2009 from her home in Heworth, York.
Police believe she was abducted as she walked the 1.6 miles to her job at a university kitchen on March 19 of that year but detectives have not ruled out the possibility she was taken from her home the night before.
As the fourth anniversary of her disappearance looms, the Sunday Express travelled to Cyprus discover if there was any truth in claims she was leading a double life on the island.
Former boyfriend Dan Whitehand has said the answer to the mystery lies in Cyprus and has claimed she had many male friends on the island.
However, our inquiries show that Claudia only knew a few men, was not promiscuous and was casually thinking of moving to the island to lead a quieter life.
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Express, bar owner Mr Campbell said: “These claims that she had up to ten lovers here are absolutely untrue.
“I knew her very well and she did not have any. She was a decent, courteous and polite young woman who just wanted to relax and have a laugh.
“She sunbathed on the beach during the day and at night she let her hair down a bit. She was not seeing a different man every night.”
Six months after her disappearance four officers from North Yorkshire police flew to Cyprus because they had been told she may have been living there secretly.
However, Robbie insisted:  ”I told them that if she was on the island Claudia would have contacted me, so I knew she wasn’t true. Somebody keeps pointing the finger at Cyprus but it is wrong.”
Shortly before Claudia vanished Robbie and three other friends came to the UK to pick up four vans, which they drove to Italy before putting them on ships for the sea trip to Cyprus.
Robbie said: ”When the police came over they asked me all about the trip. I said to them how could Claudia have got to the island without her passport, which was found in her home in York, and one of them jokingly said ‘in the back of your van’.
“We picked up the vans in Glasgow and I would have driven past York, but I didn’t stop and see Claudia.
“The police did all sorts of checks and saw us getting the vans on boats on CCTV. When she went missing I was driving between two ports in Greece.”
Shortly  before vanishing Claudia texted Robbie saying she wanted to come on holiday to Cyprus but could not afford it.
The divorced father of three offered to put her up at his place at Coral Bay, a beautiful resort town near Pafos.
Claudia then texted him saying the flights were too expensive because of “bloody school holidays” and put off the trip.
He said: “She was going to come and stay with me in the first week of April in 2009. I was looking forward to seeing her, but there was no relationship between us. We were just mates.”

Claudia Lawrence police searchPolice search for Claudia Lawrence in 2010 near her home in York

            There is no double life here. When she was here I went out with her most nights and there were no secret boyfriends or anything like that.

Steve Sammons

They got to know each other when she went to the Millennium bar on the strip on Coral Bay. Former welder Robbie, who was born in Irvine, Ayrshire,  part owns the bar with some Greek Cypriots and has the job of encouraging passers  by to come in for a drink.
“Claudia always sat at the end of the bar by the pavement and we always chatted,” he said. “She was a very open and friendly woman but not promiscuous and I enjoyed having a laugh with her.
“She talked about coming over here to live because she said she was fed up with the weather in England and her job.
“She loved horses and she asked me to speak to the owner of a stables  to see if I could get a job for her. I did not ask the owner because I didn’t think she was being serious.
“We were planning to talk about it more but then she disappeared.
“I am quite sure she is not living here secretly. She spoke very warmly and fondly of her family and she would have contacted them. She is not the type of person to turn her back on her family.”
Her other close friend on the island is builder Steve Sammons, 39, who moved out to Cyprus in 2008.
They became close friends in York and regularly drank together at the Nag’s Head pub in Heworth, just a few doors away from her home.
Tracked down by the Sunday Express, Steve said: “This is the first time I have heard that she was thinking of staying with Robbie in April 2009.
“When she came over she stayed at a hotel overlooking the bay and I thought she would be staying there.”
Steve revealed Claudia sent him three texts on March 18, the day before she vanished. He had sent her a text at 9.12 pm on March 18, but police do not know if she opened it or not as her mobile phone has never been found.
The first text from Claudia to Steve was on March 18 at 6.08 pm and it said:”How ru nug? (short for nugget) making the most of your spare timex”
The next was at 6.25 and said:”OK,ta. Weather v nice, have looked for a hol there, so expensive, mite have to be September time unless I can get a cheap last minute, bloody kids holx.”
The last was at 6.42 pm. Claudia texted:”Even flights are expensive, there’s cheap hols to other places, just Cyprus expensive! Typical. I’ll keep looking and let you knowX”
Steve said:”The text I send at 9.12 was about her coming out sometime but I cannot remember the detail because the police have all my texts.
“She did not respond to it, which was unusual. Even if she had dosed off on the sofa and then woken up I would have expected her to text me back.”
Claudia had intended to meet her two friends Suzy Cooper and Jenny King in the Nag’s Head on that night but failed to show up.
When police later went to her home a rucksack containing her chef’s clothes was missing along with her mobile.
“It is still not clear whether something happened on that night of March 18 or if she was abducted the following morning,” said Steve.
“ I have no idea but what I would say is that it was unlike her to stand her friends up and unlike her not to respond to my text.”
Claudia first visited Cyprus in 2004 with her then boyfriend, Dan Whitehand, an insurance broker. They came two other times.
Mr Whitehand has said Claudia came to the island at least eight times after their trips, sometimes on her own and had a wide social group.
However, Steve said:”I came once with her as a friend in 2007 and she came the following year with Jenny King to see me and they stayed at a hotel.
“I know those are the only times she came to Cyprus. There is no double life here. When she was here I went out with her most nights and there were no secret boyfriends or anything like that.
This has all been grossly exaggerated and I find it rather annoying.”
Robbie added:”The reality is that she knew Steve well and me and that’s about it. All we want is for the police to get to the bottom of the mystery and give some peace to the family. I fear something bad has happened to her.”
To coincide with the fourth anniversary a book about her plight has been published by Mainstream. Called Gone, the book by Neil Root covers the mystery in great detail.Sunday Express

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