Found Deceased UK - Leah Croucher, 19, Emerson Valley, Milton Keynes, 14 Feb 2019 #4

[Jenesaisquoi]

Thanks lineofduty. I guess I won’t be the only one looking at the mp procedure when I have more time.

 

[Call_me_web_sloth]

And why should the details of police enquiries be made public?

There are no suspects, no POIs. What the family say and what the police have done could be 2 different things. Maybe the police don't want to say more. Maybe there is no more to say because the details of what was done regarding a private individual shouldn't be publicised.

Perhaps you're right but the family have made it clear they don't feel the police did enough in regards to Mr X.

Of course the police don't have to make the investigation public but at the very least they can give reassurance to the family about what steps they have taken. If it was my child I would want to know every single avenue had been extensively investigated.

 

[HollyHunter9]

DCI Andy Howard confirmed in a recent TV interview a sighting of Leah at 8,20 near Telly Tubby Hill. It only takes us a few minutes further in her journey but that is where the 14 minutes comes from. From 8,20 to 8,34. But 8,34 may not be the time she went missing its only the time her phone was turned o

Respectfully snipped for focus.

I agree, I don't think leah went missing dot on 8.34am, that's just when her phone switched off. IMO I think if someone sneaked up behind her (on the cctv footage on leigh hill at 8.07am leah can be seen holding her phone as if txting while she walks and also has ear buds in so may not hear anyone sneak up on her) it would only take a few seconds to snatch her phone from her and throw it into the lake so technically we don't know what time she disappears which is why as @WiseOwl mentioned a few posts back that it didn't make sense for police to only ask for cctv footage from a small window of time on that day.

 

[HollyHunter9]

MK citizen have posted a story comparing Leah's disappearance to that of Sarah Everard and in addition to the petition started online to get Leah's case more coverage in national media hopefully things might start moving in the right direction for leah and her family!

"The tragic death of Sarah Everard has sparked a wave of national sympathy and action - but local people here in Milton Keynes cannot help but compare the case to 'our' missing woman, Leah Croucher.

Though the outcome of Leah's case is still unknown and cannot be compared to Sarah Everard, the initial circumstances of the two cases were identical - both were young woman and both went mysteriously missing for no apparent reason."

'Why isn't missing Milton Keynes woman Leah Croucher as familiar a name as Sarah Everard?'

 

[WiseOwl]

Following on from the timeline I posted the other day here is some other information in the months following Leah's disappearance (Source MK Citizen):

Thursday May 30 2019:

Leah's older brother Haydon, 23, appears at Aylesbury Crown Court charged with making threats to Leah's work colleague, a man called Adnan Choudhury between February 1 2019 and April 30 2019.

The court describes Mr Choudhury as Leah's ex boyfriend. Police agree not to pursue the prosecution because it would not be in the public interest.

Judge Sheridan said of Mr Choudhury: “The police have fully investigated the person you suspected. There is, at this stage, nothing to support your suspicions. You must allow them, however strongly you feel, to do their investigations.”

Mr Choudhury has since denied he was in a relationship with Leah. He told the Citizen this week: “That is incorrect. There was no romantic relationship....I was not grooming her. We were colleagues and we were friends... you start talking to each other." He added: “She was my work colleague. She was my friend. I would like what everyone else wants - to get her home safe. I do wish she is found safe and back with her family.”

Wednesday August 20 2019:

A festival is taking place to raise awareness of a woman who has been missing for six months. Leah Croucher disappeared while walking to work in Milton Keynes on 15 February.

A two-day music festival is taking place at Furzton Lake in the town to coincide with Leah's 20th birthday earlier this week. One of the festival's organisers, Luke Coates, said the aim of the event was "to raise awareness and hope".

Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the charity Missing People which is supporting Leah's family.

Leah's sister, Jade Croucher, said: "It means everything to us that after all of this time people are still trying to help raise awareness and keep Leah fresh in everybody's mind. "Until we know Leah is safe or until Leah is home we have to keep pushing forward with raising awareness.

"Our hope is somebody does know some information and they just haven't come forward yet."

Wednesday September 25 2019:

BBC's Crimewatch Roadshow re-enacts Leah's disappearance and appeals for information. It shows the clothing Leah was wearing on the day she vanished. A woman from Milton Keynes watches the show and remembers walking at the Blue Lagoon lake in Bletchley in February and seeing a grey hoodie just near the water. She remembered it had the word 'Stewartby' on the back. She calls police and tells them.

Wednesday 9 October 2019:

Police have admitted they have not yet seen the grey hoodie that sparked today's massive search for Leah Croucher at Blue Lagoon lake.

It is understood a member of the public saw an item of clothing resembling the distinctive hoodie in the water, but did not fish it out. As the search by diving experts draws to a close today, a police spokesman told the MK Citizen: "Police are not in possession of the hooded top. "Police believe it may be linked to Leah - we are not able to confirm if it definitely is or is not Leah Croucher’s hooded top."

The grey top had a logo saying Stewartby Taekwondo, the club where Leah is a talented member and her dad is an instructor.

Officers say the search for it may last for several days, and Leah's family are waiting anxiously for news at their Emerson Valley home. This is the first time since Leah disappeared in February that her family have allowed themselves to publicly admit the horrible fact that she could have been murdered.

They are still desperately hoping they are proved wrong and Leah may have deliberately disappeared – though there is nothing in her character to suggest she would do that.

Her dad John said: “Truthfully, I do not believe she has run away. She has got a fair amount of money in the bank and that has not been touched. If you are running away, surely you would take something?” Claire added: “There is no way she has run away. Someone has taken her. Something bad has happened... there are some people out there in the world who know where she is and what has happened to her.”

Friday 22 November 2019:

An inquest heard that Hayden Croucher, 24, took his own life at his flat in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, on November 14 and was "tortured" by not knowing what had happened to his sister who vanished without a trace.

The brother of missing teen Leah Croucher was discharged from mental health services a day before he was found hanged, an inquest heard. Hayden Croucher, 24, died as a result of multiple organ failure and never regained consciousness after his mother and sister found him hanged at his flat in Milton Keynes, Bucks., on November 14. The discovery was made the night before the nine month anniversary of the mystery disappearance of teenager Leah.

Haydon's mother, father, sister and step-mother all joined hands as they sat in silence to hear the coroner open the formal inquiry into his death. His mother Tracey Furness said outside that Haydon had been "tortured" by not knowing what had happened to Leah, 19, and the long and fruitless search to find her had taken a toll on his mental health.

The grief-stricken mother said: "His sister was something he, of course, was struggling with, it affected his mental health because of the torture he went through. He wanted answers. The day before was the anniversary of Leah being missing for nine months. It was the straw that broke the camel's back."

Monday 15 February 2021:

Police have released details of a new sighting at 8.20am of a young woman dressed in dark clothes walking past Tellytubby Hill on Furzton, opposite the Tesco Express. Most of her route, apart from Furzton Lake, was in built-up, largely residential areas, which would have been bustling with commuter traffic, school run families, joggers and cyclists.

There were two possible sightings at Furzton Lake later that morning, both of a female looking distressed and using her phone. They have still not been able to confirm whether or not this was Leah - but no other young females have have ever come forward to say it was them, says DCI Howard.

The sightings were between 9.30am and 11.15am. However, police know Leah's phone was switched off or left the network at 8.34am, at the eastern part of the lake.

"So it could have been Leah even though we know her phone has left the network by then. But there are things she still could have been doing on her phone that were not going through the network," says the DCI.

There is also the possibility that Leah had a second phone and was plotting to vanish - although this is a scenario the family of the quiet, home-loving teenager finds difficult to believe. But location settings were turned off at the eastern part of the lake the previous evening, when she mysteriously slipped out for a short time on Valentine's Day. They were never turned back on. Why?

Two years on, all we have are theories and hypotheses. Do police, despite their extensive efforts, actually know anything today that they didn't know 24 months ago? "There's not much," admits DCI Howard. "The simple fact is that we do not know what happened to Leah. People go missing regularly. The vast majority of the time there is an element behind it that helps us understand why and where they went... We just do not have that information about Leah.

"Mystery really is the word. It's bewildering and frustrating...It's been an increasingly frustrating investigation."

 

[LovelyLAM]

I am new on here... I just wondered if the ex boyfriends family were Investigated? If he was engaged in an arranged marriage (which I read somewhere) and his family found out I am just wondering how they would have reacted to that.

So heartbreaking for the family to still have no answers and so much loss

 

[dotr]

I am new on here... I just wondered if the ex boyfriends family were Investigated? If he was engaged in an arranged marriage (which I read somewhere) and his family found out I am just wondering how they would have reacted to that.

So heartbreaking for the family to still have no answers and so much loss

Welcome to Ws LovelyLam!

 

[WiseOwl]

I am new on here... I just wondered if the ex boyfriends family were Investigated? If he was engaged in an arranged marriage (which I read somewhere) and his family found out I am just wondering how they would have reacted to that.

So heartbreaking for the family to still have no answers and so much loss

Hi @LovelyLAM and welcome to Websleuths.

It has never been stated by the police or in MSM if the ex's family were investigated so nobody really knows for sure. Also the ex has always denied that Leah and himself were in a relationship, he said that they were just friends.

Leah's family though believe that she was in a relationship with him that started back in the summer of 2018.

 

[crazychris]

It's either my favoured theory that she was abducted and murdered by a total opportunistic stranger that morning and is buried in the woods not too far away or his family was involved or he got someone to do it as it was proved he was in work at the time. I very much doubt that she ran away to start a new life though and her family doesn't think she did but that's apparently the view of the officer in charge of the investigation. We lost our daughter, only child, aged 22, in 2018 to SADS and the pain, tears and grief are still almost unbearable. I can't for the life of me imagine what it must be like not to even know if she's dead or alive and losing their son too. Must be a living waking hell. As her sister said only this Feb, if she's dead at least she deserves a proper funeral with her family. They need closure and an anonymous call leading to a body could give them this.
Could they maybe search a wider area with cadaver dogs? Aren't there woods around that area?

 

[crazychris]

Hi @LovelyLAM and welcome to Websleuths.

It has never been stated by the police or in MSM if the ex's family were investigated so nobody really knows for sure. Also the ex has always denied that Leah and himself were in a relationship, he said that they were just friends.

Leah's family though believe that she was in a relationship with him that started back in the summer of 2018.

Maybe we're not giving the police enough credit in this case and he wasn't involved at all and nor were any members of his family. We just don't know how deeply they were investigated, mainly any brothers he or his now wife has. Honour is very important in their faiths especially with the male family members.

 

[Jenesaisquoi]

So sorry crazychris for the loss of your daughter. Hope the pain lessens and her essence/spirit grows stronger in your lives.

There is so much sadness for your family, Leah’s family and Sarah’s family. I hope you all find the strength to cope.

 

[crazychris]

So sorry crazychris for the loss of your daughter. Hope the pain lessens and her essence/spirit grows stronger in your lives.

There is so much sadness for your family, Leah’s family and Sarah’s family. I hope you all find the strength to cope.

Thanks. xx

 

[WiseOwl]

It's either my favoured theory that she was abducted and murdered by a total opportunistic stranger that morning and is buried in the woods not too far away or his family was involved or he got someone to do it as it was proved he was in work at the time. I very much doubt that she ran away to start a new life though and her family doesn't think she did but that's apparently the view of the officer in charge of the investigation. We lost our daughter, only child, aged 22, in 2018 to SADS and the pain, tears and grief are still almost unbearable. I can't for the life of me imagine what it must be like not to even know if she's dead or alive and losing their son too. Must be a living waking hell. As her sister said only this Feb, if she's dead at least she deserves a proper funeral with her family. They need closure and an anonymous call leading to a body could give them this.
Could they maybe search a wider area with cadaver dogs? Aren't there woods around that area?

Hi @crazychris - first of all so sorry to hear about the loss of your daughter at such a young age, my thoughts are with you tonight.

I too am starting to consider the possibility of a random abduction, especially in the light of Sarah Everard's murder. I agree as well that the TVP could search a wider area of MK with cadaver dogs, i'm sure there's much more woodland around that they haven't searched yet.

IMO anything is worth a try to find out where Leah might possibly be, no matter how remote or unlikely that idea might seem.

 

[LINEOFDUTY]

WiseOwl many thanks for your extensive work and information reviews.
I hope you don’t mind if I ask for clarification of a couple of points so I can amend my key issues notes.

You mentioned in your last chronological review that on the 15th her phone was turned off at the Eastern
Part of the Lake. I thought it was at the Northern end somewhere between the longer bridge and Hotel. I thought on Valentines night they said she turned her phone off on the Eastern side of the lake. That would make sense to me as it would be dark at that time of night and she may have walked along Bilbrook as it has street lights otherwise she would have been walking along a very dark unlit lakeside path.
The other point is something HollyHunter and I could not find. You mentioned that when she went out on Valentines night she turned her location setting off and they were never turned back on. We felt knowing if it was turned back on later that night or the next morning was important as an indicator of her mindset and any planning she may have been making. We could not recall that being said, but then I probably need to review my case notes in greater detail.
I would be grateful if you can help with those two points.
There is yet another programme on TV about Suzy Lamplugh who went missing 35 years ago.
Why can’t a TV company get interested in this current and even more frustrating disappearance now and put some top resource and researchers on it. Not in 35 years time. It’s so frustrating!

 

[Jenesaisquoi]

My own recollection of the case is that we have never been told that the location settings were turned back on, and I certainly got the impression that they hadn’t. I believe there was speculation earlier in these threads that they may have been turned off by an app or by a partner without Leah’s knowledge.

 

[WiseOwl]

WiseOwl many thanks for your extensive work and information reviews.
I hope you don’t mind if I ask for clarification of a couple of points so I can amend my key issues notes.

You mentioned in your last chronological review that on the 15th her phone was turned off at the Eastern
Part of the Lake. I thought it was at the Northern end somewhere between the longer bridge and Hotel. I thought on Valentines night they said she turned her phone off on the Eastern side of the lake. That would make sense to me as it would be dark at that time of night and she may have walked along Bilbrook as it has street lights otherwise she would have been walking along a very dark unlit lakeside path.
The other point is something HollyHunter and I could not find. You mentioned that when she went out on Valentines night she turned her location setting off and they were never turned back on. We felt knowing if it was turned back on later that night or the next morning was important as an indicator of her mindset and any planning she may have been making. We could not recall that being said, but then I probably need to review my case notes in greater detail.
I would be grateful if you can help with those two points.
There is yet another programme on TV about Suzy Lamplugh who went missing 35 years ago.
Why can’t a TV company get interested in this current and even more frustrating disappearance now and put some top resource and researchers on it. Not in 35 years time. It’s so frustrating!

Hi - as @Jenesaisquoi has said I don't believe it was ever reported that the location settings were turned back on. As for the phone being turned off at the Eastern part v Northern end I will check with the MK Citizen's reports I have kept from the time and let you know!

Although I do like to watch historical cases like Suzy Lamplugh I agree that there should be more up-to-date cases like Leah's on tv. There are probably more crime shows than ever on tv currently, yet hardly ever do I see any that involve cases I have followed on Websleuths. The only one I can recall recently was about Cheryl Coker.

 

[HollyHunter9]

As for the phone being turned off at the Eastern part v Northern end I will check with the MK Citizen's reports I have kept from the time and let you know!

I too noticed recently that MK citizen had changed some of their reports to say 'eastern' part of the lake. Yet I distinctly remember them saying 'northern' as usually when I quote from them I cut and paste directly from the article itself and I also add in the link. Ill have to go back and check the thread. On a few occasions I've noticed these articles have disappeared only to reappear with some of the information changed.

I think part of the problem with Leah's case is there very little information to go off but something like the Eastern part of the lake vs the northern part potentially makes a big difference if that has now changed.

It really is a very unusual and baffling case, I can't imagine how her family must be feeling.

*edited for spelling

 

[WiseOwl]

I too noticed recently that MK citizen had changed some of their reports to say 'eastern' part of the lake. Yet I distinctly remember them saying 'northern' as usually when I quote from them I cut and paste directly from the article itself and I also add in the link. Ill have to go back and check the thread. On a few occasions I've noticed these articles have disappeared only to reappear with some of the information changed.

I think part of the problem with Leah's case is there very little information to go off but something like the Eastern part of the lake vs the northern part potentially makes a big difference if that has now changed.

It really is a very unusual and baffling case, I can't imagine how her family must be feeling.

*edited for spelling

You are right Holly, from time to time some articles I have seen suddenly disappear when you try to find them again and also reports have changed too.

It seems everything about Leah's case is extremely puzzling and frustrating for many different reasons.

 

[HollyHunter9]

I am new on here... I just wondered if the ex boyfriends family were Investigated? If he was engaged in an arranged marriage (which I read somewhere) and his family found out I am just wondering how they would have reacted to that.

So heartbreaking for the family to still have no answers and so much loss

Welcome to WS LovelyLAM. A lot of the answers to these questions we do not know which is why we tend to go round in circles discussing them here. God knows how her poor family must feel about it all.

*edited for grammar

 

[HollyHunter9]

You are right Holly, from time to time some articles I have seen suddenly disappear when you try to find them again and also reports have changed too.

It seems everything about Leah's case is extremely puzzling and frustrating for many different reasons.

Very puzzling WO! Possibly in the future we should add a screenshot of the article quotes so there's a photographic record if ever we need to look back.