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Almost 16 months after teenager Leah Croucher vanished on her way to work, police and her family are not a single step nearer discovering what has happened to her.
Almost 16 months after teenager Leah Croucher vanished on her way to work, police and her family are not a single step nearer discovering what has happened to her.
Leah, who would now be heading towards her 21st birthday in August, disappeared the day after Valentine's Day last year.
Though 19 at the time, she was a shy and home-loving teenager and simply not the type to run away and lose contact with her parents, her siblings and aunts, uncles and cousins she adored, say her family.
'Operation Dawlish' was launched and a squad of dozens of police officers was put on the case. Specialist search teams and underwater teams were recruited to scour the area, particularly around Furzton Lake where Leah would have walked to work that morning. The Croucher family and friends trudged around MK themselves, pinning hundreds of 'missing' posters on lampposts and stringing huge banners across bridges.
But, despite frequent appeals and several more searches, not a single clue has ever been found. And, with Leah's phone switched off half an hour after she left home that morning, her bank account remaining untouched and her social media accounts frozen in time, there has never been a way to trace her.
Her phone remains missing, as does the clothing she was wearing and the bag she was carrying on the morning of February 15 2019.
"It is approaching the 16 month anniversary this month and our hopes of finding Leah are diminishing day by day," admitted Leah's dad John Croucher this week.
He and his wife Claire have been following the story of Jonathan Dolton, the young Milton Keynes man who disappeared from his home in February 2002, at the age of 21. Though a man was convinced of his manslaughter two years later, Jonathan's body has never been found.
"We read about his family who've had 18 years of worry and we feel such sorrow for the pain they have had to endure for all this time. Is that what we have to endure as well? It's a terrifying and depressing prospect," said John.
Halfway through the Croucher family's ordeal, they were struck by massive tragedy when John's only son Haydon died last November. The 24-year-old had been tortured by the lack of progress in finding his sister, and despite seeking help from local mental health services, he took his own life.
Through their grief, the family harboured a ray of hope that Leah, if she was deliberately in hiding, would turn up to the funeral of the half brother she loved so much. But it was not to be.
In February this year, the Crouchers threw themselves into a huge anniversary appeal organised by police and publicised by national television and newspapers. Once again, reports of sightings of Leah trickled in from all over the country - but none of them turned out to be her.
Leah was 19 when she vanished while walking to work
"We have no new news to give you, I'm afraid. I wish we had," said John this week. "The only contact we have had with the police since the 12 month anniversary is when an item was found in Furzton lake the other week."
The item turned out to be nothing to do with Leah. Since then, with national publicity about Leah drying up during the Covid-19 crisis, the Croucher's despair has only deepened.
"Obviously we have the same worry about family and coronavirus as everyone else does, but we have the added worry about Leah. If she has run away and is out there somewhere, how is she keeping herself safe? Is she is one of the fatalities of Covid-19? How would we know?" said John.
Leah's aunt Teresa Nicholls said the whole family was still "in turmoil" daily not knowing where Leah is.
" What or who is stopping her from coming home or even letting us know she is safe? This is not Leah -she’s not the girl that would willingly put her family though this.
"It’s honestly devastating and we just feel numb waiting for her to come home where she belongs, where she is loved beyond words. For her parents it’s a living nightmare.... pure hell.
"All the time Leah is still missing she is always at the forefront of our minds. We look everywhere and anywhere for any signs or sightings of her...Someone, somewhere knows something. Please, please come forward and help."
Teresa's last sentence sums up the family's desperate message over the past 16 months - someone, somewhere knows something. It is highly unlikely that a young girl as unworldly wise as Leah could stage her own disappearance so expertly. Therefore is highly probable that someone helped her or perhaps took her with force.
After this length of time, Leah's parents have only two possible theories - that Leah is no longer alive or that she is being held somewhere against her will. But either way, they say, at least one other person must have been involved. And either way, Leah's family wants her home where she belongs.
Despite a £10,000 reward on offer, so far nobody has come forward, even anonymously, to help put the Crouchers out of their misery.
If you have any information, however small or insignificant you think it may be, please contact Thames Valley Police on 101, or by reporting online - quoting reference 43190049929 or 'Operation Dawlish'.
You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or you can pass information to them online here
A spokesman for Crimestoppers said: "Your anonymity is 100% guaranteed. We are not interested in who you are, only what you know so the more detail you give us the better. We really appreciate your time and help."
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