Found Deceased UK - Leah Croucher, 19, Emerson Valley, Milton Keynes, 14 Feb 2019 #5

[JuicyLucy]

Mainly because of this:

MK Citizen Monday 15 February 2021:

Police officers have spent hours talking to Leah's friends and minutely examining her texts and social media interactions with them. Equally they have scrutinised CCTV at every possible point on her two mile walk to work, from her house on Quantock Crescent, Emerson Valley to the DFC finance company's offices in Davy Avenue, Knowlhill, where she had an admin job.

Frustratingly there are large gaps in Leah's route where there was no CCTV two years ago. Police spent days door knocking houses on the route she could have taken. Many had security CCTV or doorbells that film people close to their houses - but none had detailed images of people walking past.

"You can see little black blobs - they could be anyone," says DCI Howard.

It seems they were primarily looking at Leah's walk to work and following the 'little black blobs' and maybe because of this focus they could well of overlooked other possibilities such as getting into a vehicle.

Also this:

MK Citizen Friday 22 February 2019:

Thames Valley Police Chief Inspector Neil Kentish said there have been two unconfirmed sightings of a female who "may be Leah" in the area of the Teardrop Lakes at approximately 8.45am on February 15, and that searches are being carried out.

"We would like to hear from anybody with CCTV or dash cam footage from Furzton, Emerson Valley, Shenley Lodge, Knowlhill and surrounding roads on Friday the 15th between 8am and 11am."

Why just the 3 hour time slot? As they had no idea what had happened to Leah that day surely they should have kept their options open and ask for footage from all of Friday not just the 3 hours they asked for. Did they check any petrol station footage from that day to see if Leah was in any vehicle that had pulled in for petrol or maybe even for food or drink?

I presume the 11.00 cut-off point came about because of the 3 witnesses who believed they saw Leah at Furzton Lake between 9.30 - 11.00 that morning. If the police did believe these sightings at the time then after the last sighting at around 11.00 what did they think had happened to Leah after this - did they consider that she might have been waiting for someone to arrive and pick her up in a vehicle, did it enter their line of thinking at the time?

Yes, I agree that closing the window of interest at 11am was a bit arbitrary and not very bright tbh.

As regards following her walking route only, I see where you're coming from, but I feel like the rationale is that up to the point where she got into a car, she would have been on foot. Even if her route deviated from her normal walking-to-work route, she would have been walking until she wasn't, so to speak. But without being able to trace the entirety of her walking route, there are limits to what can be deduced about where a car might have picked her up. I can't believe TVP didn't consider that as a possibility and try to pursue it though - jmo.

I agree the most likely scenario is that she got into a car though, and my opinion - fwiw - is that it's most likely to have been a prearranged meet, partly because I think someone would most likely have witnessed a struggle, even if they didn't understand what they'd seen at the time, and partly because of all the subterfuge with her phone the night before and the hotel earlier in the month. I am sure she was putting a plan into action that day.

 

[Cherwell]

Pre-arranged or not, if she got into a car it would have been with someone she knew, or connected with someone she knew. I don't for a moment think she was snatched off the street unwillingly.

 

[Jenesaisquoi]

Maybe there was cctv but it had been tampered with/disappeared before she was reported missing. Iirc, she was not reported missing until after that day’s work - understandably, as it seems to have been a normal day as far as family was concerned.

 

[WiseOwl]

Maybe there was cctv but it had been tampered with/disappeared before she was reported missing. Iirc, she was not reported missing until after that day’s work - understandably, as it seems to have been a normal day as far as family was concerned.

I think what actually happened on the day Leah disappeared was that her office believed that she had booked the day off as holiday, that's why there was no urgency to trace her until her parents got home from work later that afternoon, discovered she wasn't at home and phoned up her office to see if she was still there.

If this is true then either:

1. Leah did actually book the day off work.

2. Someone at the office had incorrectly believed she had booked the day off.

 

[ZsaZsa]

JMO but I have always believed that the TVP overlooked the possibility that Leah could have entered a vehicle when they were viewing the CCTV footage at the time. I think they were solely focused on looking for Leah walking around the area somewhere, and by the time it dawned on them that Leah had potentially entered a vehicle it was too late - any footage they could have looked at had been wiped. This was a massive oversight by the TVP.

Also, what about the taxi journeys Leah's family said she had taken in the weeks and months before she went missing. £13 a time, did the police investigate where she went to in these journeys? Did they enquire with the taxi firm which drivers had taken Leah to her destination? Did she give an address where she was going to? Did someone meet her when she got out of the taxi? Did any of the drivers know this person? Was there more than one person who met her when she left the taxi? When did Leah make these journeys, evenings, weekends or both?

The evening before Leah disappeared she went out from 6.00 - 7.15, did the TVP check with any taxi firms to see if she had got a taxi to/from anywhere that evening? Did they check to see if Leah's phone had registered on any of the local taxi firms records that evening?

Did the TVP even bother to check any of this?

I am sure they and her family know all those details of her taxi rides. If they are all to the same location it makes you wonder why they haven’t released that info ….?

 

[CGMK]

I don't believe its an honour killing. I guess she caught a lift with someone or she's in the lake.

Can anyone locate where she is standing in the new photo?

That's my two cents also, I'm going with the vehicle, an account that woman gave about someone holding someone else down I feel is the key, and or when you watch videos like ' adventures with purpose ' where they find people that were already searched for we get an understanding of how diving and sonar equipment is a skill that not everybody operating one actually holds the same experience/skill or has the best technology. There are sections on the lake with rushing turning water... inside concrete?It's late .. I forget what they are called but i do remember i used to panick when my kids were in proximity of.

 

[JuicyLucy]

[...] I'm going with the vehicle, an account that woman gave about someone holding someone else down I feel is the key, [...]

Do you mean the women who said she'd seen a pair of feet on the dashboard of a car that was about 50m away from her on a busy road? Because I think that witness was pretty much debunked as not having been close enough to plausibly see what she said she'd seen.

 

[CGMK]

I've personally driven that road many times I live in the area... I used to be on that road many a morning taking spouse to work the traffic was stopped she said... it happens there sometimes. it does. I've even read one woman saying it doesn't.... no it hasn't been debunked... I only know of one person that pushes a narrative that many say it can't be possible, who are all these people saying it?I reckon its more than possible.. The car the person was in ... was moving forward don't forget....it may have started 50 meters away when she first admired it.. you see?

 

[HongKongPhooey]

I've personally driven that road many times I live in the area... I used to be on that road many a morning taking spouse to work the traffic was stopped she said... it happens there sometimes. it does. I've even read one woman saying it doesn't.... no it hasn't been debunked... I only know of one person that pushes a narrative that many say it can't be possible, who are all these people saying it?I reckon its more than possible.. The car the person was in ... was moving forward don't forget....it may have started 50 meters away when she first admired it.. you see?

Also local here. I think if traffic stopped on a grid road, bearing in mind they are national speed limit, it would be v noticeable. I think if Leah entered a car and it went unnoticed, it was from one of the car parks around the lake.

 

[Cherwell]

Apart from anything else, I don't see how the reported behaviour fits with Leah being abducted in a car.
If she was picked up in a car - which seems the likeliest scenario - I feel strongly that the driver was someone she knew, or associated with someone she knew (eg "I've sent a taxi to pick you up").
She might have ducked down to avoid being seen by someone who might recognise her, but there would be no need for the driver to force her down with the risk of attracting attention.

 

[Cherwell]

I've personally driven that road many times I live in the area... I used to be on that road many a morning taking spouse to work the traffic was stopped she said... it happens there sometimes. it does. I've even read one woman saying it doesn't.... no it hasn't been debunked... I only know of one person that pushes a narrative that many say it can't be possible, who are all these people saying it?I reckon its more than possible.. The car the person was in ... was moving forward don't forget....it may have started 50 meters away when she first admired it.. you see?

By her own account the witness was at least two car lengths away from the turning, and before she reached the turning
"the cars began to move and another driver, several cars in front, let the mystery motorist pull out in front of him."
So she cannot have got any closer to the car.

 

[Pinkizzy]

Leah switched off her GPS and must have arranged to meet someone who didnt want to be traced.

 

[Onetruesaxon]

Leah switched off her GPS and must have arranged to meet someone who didnt want to be traced.

Unless it was turned off by mistake.....

 

[JuicyLucy]

Leah switched off her GPS and must have arranged to meet someone who didnt want to be traced.

Well, or someone who she didn't want to be traced. There is a tendency to regard Leah as a passive non-participant in her disappearance that imo should be resisted as it closes off potential scenarios that do need to be considered.

It's also possible she went to a location she didn't want to be placed at, rather than meeting a person.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Well, or someone who she didn't want to be traced. There is a tendency to regard Leah as a passive non-participant in her disappearance that imo should be resisted as it closes off potential scenarios that do need to be considered.

It's also possible she went to a location she didn't want to be placed at, rather than meeting a person.

Delving into memory here, but I think she also turned location off the evening before? When she told her family she was visiting a friend, but the friend came forward later and said that wasn’t true.

I personally do not think Leah disappeared voluntarily but I do think her secretive behaviour is linked to why she did. Whatever she was doing, it seems she thought her parents wouldn’t approve, or would worry. With good reason, IMO.

 

[Skigh]

Delving into memory here, but I think she also turned location off the evening before? When she told her family she was visiting a friend, but the friend came forward later and said that wasn’t true.

I personally do not think Leah disappeared voluntarily but I do think her secretive behaviour is linked to why she did. Whatever she was doing, it seems she thought her parents wouldn’t approve, or would worry. With good reason, IMO.

You are correct. She did turn off location the previous evening and told her parents she was visiting a friend.

I agree that she did not voluntarily disappear and her secretive behaviour is linked to her disappearance. I think her secrecy is connected to a person she was seeing and whom she knew her parents would not approve of her having a romantic relationship.

 

[ZsaZsa]

Wonder who she thought was tracking her movements ?

 

[Pinkizzy]

I'm sure its possible to trace a persons movements with GPS switched off

 

[ZsaZsa]

Leah Croucher: Parents talk of trolling three years after disappearance

Sickening for her family having to deal with this garbage. The Internet really brings out the vermin.

 

[StillDiggin]

New police appeal
We are today re-releasing two images in connection with our missing person investigation into the disappearance of Leah Croucher in Milton Keynes.

A month ago today, we released three images, including one of a female dog walker who we were asking to contact us.

This female has since contacted the force, and we would like to thank her for doing so.

We are re-issuing the other two images as we are looking to identify these individuals.

The image shows a number of members of the public in the area of Furzton Lake, Milton Keynes, on the morning of 15 February 2019, and also a zoomed-in image of a figure in black.

We have never identified these people, and although the images are of poor quality, we are again asking members of the public to think back to the day after Valentines Day 2019 and if you were in the area of Furzton Lake that morning and believe any of these figures could be you, to please contact Thames Valley Police.

The very fact that the dog walker has come forward has given us great cause for optimism that we may be able to identify these individuals, despite the quality of the images.

If you believe one of the figures to be you, or know who they may be, please get in touch.

We remain determined to locate Leah and bring some answers to her family, who have had constant anguish for more than three years.

Please call Thames Valley Police on 101, quoting 'Operation Dawlish' or reference number 43190049929.

Read the full press release here ➡ https://orlo.uk/k2hfg
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