'It's time to stop protecting the person responsible,' says dad of missing Leah Croucher from MK

In an anguished Father's Day plea, the dad of Leah Croucher is urging the person who knows what happened to his daughter to finally have the courage to speak out.

Ever since Leah went missing more than 16 months ago, her family has been convinced another person was involved in making her mysterious disappearance happen.

And they believe that person may have told their grim secret to at least one other person, perhaps a friend or family member, who has been protecting them ever since.

"It's time to break your silence. It's time to stop protecting the person responsible for Leah's disappearance. Let her come home to her loving family," said John Croucher.

Do you know what happened to Leah?

He added: "If you are the person or persons who know why Leah isn't coming home, please do the decent thing and call 101. Tell the police what has stopped her being with her loving family. Our hearts are broken."

If you know anything about what happened to Leah, call police immediately on 101. If you want to stay anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Calls are free and you do not need to give any details about yourself.

Or, if you prefer to avoid police and Crimestoppers, you can call Missing People charity in confidence on freephone 116 000, email them on 116000@missingpeople.org.uk, or complete their online sightings form anonymously here .

There is still a £10,000 reward for any information that will solve the mystery of what happened to shy and home-loving Leah, who was 19 when she vanished on her way to work February 15 2019.

Her bank account has never been touched and her phone, switched off shortly after she left her Emerson Valley home that morning, has never been found. Despite extensive searches, no items of her clothing or any other clues have been found.

Police appeals have led to dozens of 'sightings' of Leah reported from all over the UK and occasionally abroad. But none of them turned out to be Leah.

Just when her family thought their anguish could not get any worse, Leah's brother Haydon died last November at the age of 24. He took his own life because he was so tormented about the lack of progress in finding out what has happened to his sister.

This weekend dad John spent Father's Day with just one child, his older daughter Jade. Below, in his own words, is his poignant account of their grief:

"I woke this morning with a deeper dread than normal. My second Father's day without you, Leah. My first without you, Haydon. I turned over and stayed in bed for a further two hours. Sleep was intermittent. Finally I had to give in, get up and face the most horrendous day.

"Last year was filled with loss that was difficult to bear. But at least I had Jade and Haydon with me, trying their best to distract me. But all I could do was look at the two lovely cards they had bought and feel the deepest sorrow that one was missing. Leah wasn't there to give me a card. The space where her card should have been felt enormous.

"This year there is only one card on the side. It looks so lonely and lost. Spending time with Jade in the garden, social distancing, unable to give each other a much needed cuddle, but enjoying the time with her was the highlight of my day and gave me a small boost. Trying our best to keep conversation light and uplifting. Failing miserably. Talking about how Haydon would be telling us the latest conspiracy theories, how he would be stressing about people not following the government guidelines, only to probably break them himself a few times by now. Talking about how Leah would have rolled her eyes, given a huge sigh and a cheeky grin when he had left the room as she delivered some comment about how he was totally over-reacting to the situation.

"Lockdown would have been no different for her if she was still here to her normal routine. For someone who rarely went out, life now would have been no different to normal.'

John added: "We miss them both so much it is impossible to put it into words. We know people are still looking, still feeling positive for us. We are grateful to each and every one of them."