Leah Croucher's body is finally released for funeral as inquest takes place in Milton Keynes

An inquest into the death of Leah Croucher has today been opened, which means her body can finally be released for a funeral to take place.

Coroner Tom Osborne heard how 19-year-old went missing while walking to work in Milton Keynes on the morning of February 15 2019.

Despite a lengthy police investigation, no clues about her disappearance were found. Then, three years and eight months later, on October 10 last year, Leah’s body was discovered in the attic of a house on Furzton’s Loxbeare Drive. The house, close to Furzton Lake, was on her route to work.

Coroner’s office Luke Grove told the inquest that the man who had been in charge of the police investigation, Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Howard, confirmed the death and a murder investigation was launched.

Four days later, on October 14, a forensic odontologist identified Leah from her dental records, said Mr Grove.

A post mortem was conducted by Pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer. “The medical cause of death remains under investigation,” he said.

Mr Osborne said he would sign a Facts of Death certificate to enable Leah’s Emerson Valley family to go ahead and make funeral arrangements.

But he suspended the inquest until the ongoing police investigation was complete.

“To Mr and Mrs Croucher, I extend my condolences for this sad and tragic death”, he said.

Meanwhile, the Coroner’s Office is still refusing to release details of the inquest into Neil Maxwell, the 49-year-old property maintenance worker named by police as prime suspect in Leah’s murder case.

A convicted sex offender and rapist, he was said to be the only person with keys to the Loxbeare Drive house at the time the teenager vanished.

Maxwell hanged himself in a communal bin cupboard in a block of flats at Campbell Park in April 2019 – two months after Leah went missing.

Wanted by police for a sexual assault on a woman in Newport Pagnell, he had told friends he could not bear to return to prison and had evaded arrest 18 times in five months.

An inquest into Maxwell’s suicide was held in October 2019. But, following the discovery of Leah’s body, the details of that inquest were withdrawn from public view.

Senior coroner Tom Osborne said at the time: "I received a request from Det Ch Supt Ian Hunter, who is overseeing the investigation into the death of Leah Croucher, to withhold disclosure of the record of inquest for a further short period of time as it contains information that is sensitive to their continuing investigation, and by releasing that information into the public domain at this stage may seriously jeopardise the investigation.

"The presumption in favour of open and transparent justice would normally dictate that I disclose the record of inquest.

"However, I have every reason to believe that disclosure of the document at this stage may seriously compromise and indeed jeopardise the ongoing investigation into the death of Leah Croucher, and for that reason the balance is in favour of not disclosing the document, for the time being.

"The content of the document will not change and the risks of compromise to the continuing investigation outweigh the need for disclosure."