A key witness has come forward with new evidence leading officers from Scotland Yard's serious crime group to consider for the first time that Ms Lamplugh's disappearance in 1986 may have involved more than one man. They will now focus on a "core group" of suspects.
The witness, who came forward with a "nagging doubt" during a routine "cold-case" review launched last December, is believed to have told police they saw Ms Lamplugh in her car with one or more people up to 80 minutes after the last known sighting.
As part of the review, samples taken from the dead woman's car, fibres, hair and human tissue will be subjected to DNA testing not available at the time of the initial investigation.
Lamplugh, 25, disappeared on July 28 1986 after leaving her office in Stevenage Road, Fulham to show a client known as Mr Kipper a house in Shorrolds Road, around a mile away.
The original investigation into her disappearance was closed in 1987, and she was officially declared dead in 1994. Her body has never been found.
"[The] information came to light during a review of the case and is most exciting and includes a new witness. We're extremely hopeful, extremely confident," said Det Supt Shaun Sawyer, who is leading the case.
"There are some existing suspects we will reinterview and there are some new suspects. We have to consider that more than one person may have been involved."
Mr Sawyer added that police would be looking to establish links between the suspects.
Before the new witness's evidence it was thought that the last positive sighting of Lamplugh came when she left the office at 12.40pm, and that she drove directly to Shorrolds Road to meet her abductor.
That time frame has now been widened, and police yesterday appealed for witnesses who may have seen Lamplugh's white Ford Fiesta in the area around Fulham between 12.40 and 2pm.
It was initially thought that the estate agent had got into a black BMW driven by "Mr Kipper" at around 1pm, but the new information contradicts this theory.
The police acknowledged that some of their suspects were serving prison sentences for violent crime. They denied that they were preparing to dig for Lamplugh's body at Norton army barracks in Worcestershire.
Gilly Paige, a former girlfriend of the convicted murderer John Cannan, told police that he confessed to raping and killing Lamplugh at the disused barracks.
Cannan, who was jailed for life in 1989 for the murder of sales manager Shirley Banks, was interviewed three times by officers investigating the Lamplugh case and denies killing her.
In December Diana Lamplugh, Suzy's mother, said she had received new information that corroborated Ms Paige's story.
In 1994 Michael Sams, also serving a life sentence for murder, said he killed Lamplugh but the claim was dismissed as a hoax.
Yesterday Mrs Lamplugh indicated that as long as the police were certain of the killer's identity, and that he could not strike again, she would be content for the investigation to be closed.
"The main thing is that it doesn't happen again. If the person was in prison and not coming out it's not the same as someone waiting round the corner to kill again," she said.
Mr Sawyer said the new witness came forward after reconsidering the route the estate agent may have taken from her office: "[They] spent a long time worrying about something that they never thought could possibly have been relevant."
He also appealed to the killer to come forward. "I say to you, you have lived with this anxiety for some time. You have lived with the fear of being discovered for the last 14 years. There remains an opportunity for you to identify yourself."
Suzy Lamplugh's parents echoed Mr Sawyer's appeal for help and spoke of their enduring sense of loss.
"I'm a mother, part of my body has been murdered and that of course makes me angry as well as making me deeply sad," said Mrs Lamplugh, 63, who founded a charitable trust in her daughter's name to advise young women on personal safety within months of Suzy's disappearance.
Family despair, police frustration
Yesterday's announcement that the police had found a new witness in the Lamplugh case is the latest twist in a 14-year case that has caused despair to her family and frustration to the police.
July 28 1986 Suzy Lamplugh goes missing after leaving the estate agent where she works to meet a Mr Kipper at a house in Fulham. Her body is never found
October 1987 After investigations on two continents but no breakthroughs, the police inquiry is closed. The file remains open
April 1989 Police conduct the first of three interviews with John Cannan, a convicted killer, whose prison nickname was Kipper. His former girlfriend said she suspected him of involvement in the case but the police are unable to find any evidence to link him
August 1992 Police say a young woman's body found in the Mendip Hills, Somerset, is not Lamplugh's
February 1994 Lamplugh is officially declared dead
December 1994 Claims by Michael Sams, serving life for murder and kidnap, that he killed Lamplugh are dismissed by the family as a "sick hoax"
December 1999 Diana Lamplugh is told that her daughter's body could be at an abandoned army barracks at Norton, Worcestershire
May 2000 After investigations police announce that they are to reopen the case
Martin Deacon
