Come back home, Leah
Parents’ tearful appeal for 19-year-old who vanished a week ago
THE parents of a missing teenage girl made an emotional appeal for her to get in touch yesterday as police divers searched a lake.
Leah Croucher, 19, has not been seen since she was caught on CCTV walking to work a week ago.
The ‘avid’ social media user has not used her accounts or contacted her family since, police said. At a press conference, her parents Claire and John Croucher, both 44, told how she was looking forward to going on holiday with them in two weeks. They said her disappearance was ‘ highly unusual’ and begged her to come home.
Mrs Croucher said: ‘She is a creature of habit who loves her home comforts.’ Pausing to compose herself, she appealed directly to her daughter: ‘Leah, if you are able to hear or see me as I read this, please, please get in touch or, better still, come home. Just show us that you are safe. We are beside ourselves with worry.’
Leah was last seen by her family at their home in Emerson Valley, Milton Keynes, at around 10pm on February 14. She was seen on CCTV at 8.15am the next day walking to her work in Knowlhill, around two miles away. But she never arrived, and was reported missing by her family. Chief Inspector Neil Kentish said there have been two unconfirmed sightings of someone who ‘may be Leah’ in the area of the Teardrop Lakes, Knowlhill, at approximately 8.45am on February 15, where searches were being carried out yesterday. Nearby Furzton Lake has been searched by divers. Police said they were keeping an open mind about what had happened to her. More than 50 officers, including specialist divers, are involved in the search. A friend wrote on Facebook that he and Leah had been discussing their ‘problems’ before she disappeared. Leah’s family told how the ‘family-orientated’ teenager, who worked in administration at a finance company, enjoyed reading and writing fantasy fiction, which she published online. They added: ‘If there is something bothering you we can help you sort it out. You are not alone. You will never be alone as long as we are alive.’
They said she communicated with her friends and family largely through social media or texting and that it was ‘unbelievable’ she would choose not to contact anyone for the past seven days.
Leah is of slim build, with below shoulder-length brown hair, and sometimes wears glasses. She was last seen wearing a coat, skinny jeans and Converse high top shoes, all black, and was carrying a small black rucksack.
An appeal will be shown at MK Dons Football Club before their game today.
‘Unbelievable she wouldn’t contact us’