CLAUDIA Lawrence's father says uncertainty over her fate and secrets kept by those who know what happened to her "eat away" at him.

Peter Lawrence last spoke to his daughter Claudia on the evening of Wednesday, March 18, 2009, and said the decade of uncertainty had seen his family "destroyed from the inside".

Claudia, a chef from York, was 35 when she was last seen and Monday marks the 10th anniversary of her disappearance.

Peter said: "We just had a brief chat about meeting up, as we quite often did, on the Friday. It was only two days away. Look what happened in between. In some ways, I just can't believe it. I was talking to her and then, all of a sudden, there was no sight nor sound of her.

"It's a very strange feeling that it's 10 years since we last saw Claudia. She disappeared, and sometimes that seems to be an eternity, and others, strangely, it doesn't seem much time at all.

"All the way through it's been a question of 'she just disappeared', and we still, after all this time, have no idea what happened to her."

York Press:

Peter said he found it galling that anyone could keep a secret that could tear a family apart, and urged anyone who had information which could help police to come forward.

He said: "It's high time they let the family know because it's a dreadful feeling, not knowing

"You can understand, in a way, I suppose, if any one individual was responsible for Claudia's disappearance they might not come forward, but other people must know about it and I just cannot understand them not telling the truth and coming forward.

"I just don't understand how anyone with knowledge of what happened to Claudia can live with themselves. Seeing the family as they are, being destroyed from inside, basically, with the churning up that you get from not knowing what happened. I don't see that anybody's conscience or loyalty can really overcome the need to put the family out of their misery."

Peter said the pain after 10 years was "less raw, but no less significant", and "it still eats into you, the not knowing".

He said: "It's bad enough if something happens in a car accident or somebody was very ill and died. That's surely bad enough, but not knowing what has happened is, in a way, even worse.

"If there was any possibility of Claudia hearing a message... we miss you so much, we love you so much, and not seeing you is very difficult to bear. It gets more difficult, obviously, after 10 years to believe that there will be a good outcome but every time I've spoken to Archbishop Sentamu he's said 'have faith man, she's still there'."

Watch our full interview with Peter Lawrence here.

Claudia's mum Joan Lawrence also spoke to the Press. Read her interview here, and see her treasured pictures of Claudia here.