A POLICE chief has warned people who have hidden their relationship with missing York chef Claudia Lawrence that they should come forward now - or face arrest.

Detective Superintendent Dai Malyn, speaking on the sixth anniversary of Claudia’s disappearance and suspected murder, said they would face an “intrusive” process, including interviews and searches, as officers sought either to eliminate or implicate them.

DS Malyn, head of North Yorkshire Police’s Major Crime Unit, said there were people who still had not fully admitted their relationship with Claudia, who went missing in March 2009 after returning to her Heworth Road home after a day’s work at the University of York’s Goodricke College.

He said that by scrutinising in meticulous detail what people told the original inquiry, and then comparing that with other information which had sometimes only recently come to light, two things had become evident.

“First, that there are people locally who knew Claudia and who have actively sought to keep that a secret – and we know who some of those people are. Secondly, we know that some people have deliberately lied about a number of issues concerning their association with Claudia.”

He said science had moved on since Claudia, then 35, went missing. “Additional fingerprints have been found using techniques that the review team have decided to capitalise on based on the advice of national experts.,” he said.

“There are a number of people who we now know spent time in Claudia’s house and who literally left their mark there; but, for whatever reason, those individuals have failed to come forward and acknowledge their presence in her home.

“I would make a further appeal for those to come forward now and provide these explanations,” he said.

“If I reach the point where we believe people continue to obstruct this investigation or assist or cover up for the person or persons responsible, they will be arrested.

“This is a very intrusive process involving interviews and searches which we will do in order to eliminate or implicate them in Claudia’s disappearance.”

Meanwhile, Claudia’s father Peter Lawrence was planning to hold a press briefing at a York hotel today in which he will reflect on the highs and lows of yet another year without his daughter. He is also planning to talk about the introduction of the UK-wide Presumption Of Death Legislation and its usage and the current police investigation into Claudia’s disappearance.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or phone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.