Mystery DNA found in the abandoned car belonging to Suzy Lamplugh could belong to her killer, a former detective has revealed.
Jim Dickie said a tiny sample was taken from a smudged fingerprint on the rear-view mirror of the white Ford Fiesta that the estate agent drove to meet “Mr Kipper” on July 28, 1986.
Forensic scientists were unable to extract a profile from it in 2000 when Mr Dickie was leading the investigation but he is hopeful that it could be done now.
Suzy, 25, vanished when she went to show a client who had given the name Kipper around a house in Fulham, South West London and her body has never been found.
A friend said she saw her later that day in the car with a man she did not recognise. Ex-Det Supt, Mr Dickie said: “I am unaware if the DNA sample from the fingerprint has been progressed and whether there is sufficient to test it without destroying it.
“My advice from the experts was scientific advances may improve sometime in the future and DNA science may develop to enable testing without destroying it. I am unaware if this is still the case or a review and test have taken place and if so what the result was.
“Certainly up to two to three years ago this had not taken place.”
Suzy’s company car was found by investigating officers at 10.01pm on the day she vanished, around a mile from the home she was due to show a “Mr Kipper”. The handbrake was off and her purse still in the door pocket.
Her seat was not in its usual position but pushed further back, suggesting that Suzy had not been the last person to drive the vehicle.
The Mirror revealed this week that the prime suspect in her disappearance, John Cannan, 68, is receiving end-of-life care in prison where he is serving life for another murder and a series of sex attacks.
In 2002 Scotland Yard named Cannan as the prime suspect
He has always denied any involvement, even as he receives palliative care in Full Sutton jail, East Yorks.
Sadly Suzy’s parents died without knowing what happened to her. Mr Dickie said he believes Cannan is also responsible for the unsolved murder of Sandra Court, 26.
The Bournemouth insurance clerk’s body was found in a water-filled ditch on the Avon Causeway in May 1986.
He previously said: “There’s a possibility he’ll [Cannan] die without ever saying what he knows.
“The problem is that no one can force him to tell us what’s happened.”
A Scotland Yard spokesman would not comment on whether any forensic work has been done on the DNA sample in the last few years.
He said: “Our investigation into the disappearance and murder of Suzy Lamplugh is ongoing, and detectives remain committed to securing justice for her family.”
