'There's a lot of information yet to be shared to us' say parents of Leah Croucher as police finish their murder investigation in Milton Keynes

Police have finally completed their investigation into the murder of Leah Croucher, 15 months after her body was tragically found.

And, following a pre-hearing hearing today (Thursday), a date has now been set for a full two day inquest to take place – on June 19 and June 20 this year.

Leah’s family has tonight issued a statement that sadly indicates they still do not know the full facts about how she came to die and why her body was undetected for three years and eight months.

They said: “Today went as expected, and we are happy to have a date for Leah’s inquest.

“There is a lot of information yet to be shared to us and our legal representation. We are looking forward to seeing that."

Home-loving Leah was 19 when she mysteriously vanished while walking to work from her Emerson Valley home of February 15 2019.

She was classified as a missing person and the case became one of the biggest unsolved mysteries MK had ever seen.

In October 2021, her remains were found by chance in the attic of an unoccupied house in Loxbeare Drive, Furzton, which was on the Leah’s route to work and 500 metres from where she was last seen alive on CCTV.

Possessions Leah had been carrying on the day she went missing were also found at the house.

With many people wondering how police could have missed the house, TVP bosses held a 13-day investigation, after which they announced they had “done all they could” to find Leah during all the time she was missing.

A Home Office post mortem found the cause of death was “inconclusive.”

The case shifted swiftly from a missing persons investigation to a murder hunt. Four days after Leah’s body was discovered, police declared they had a murder suspect - a convicted sex offender called Neil Maxwell, who was on the run from police at the time of Leah’s disappearance.

Maxwell hanged himself in a Campbell Park in April 2019. Over the preceding five months, he had evaded arrest 18 times.

As a self-employed property maintenance man, he was, according to the overseas owner of the Loxbeare Drive house, the only person in possession of keys to it at the time.

Tonight a police spokesman said: “TVP has completed its investigation into the death of Leah Croucher and a file has been submitted to the Coroner for their consideration within the coronial process.

“As these are active coronial proceedings, it is not appropriate for us to comment further on the investigation until the inquest process has been concluded, so as not to prejudice any findings.

The inquest will be held at Milton Keynes Coroner’s Court. Leah’s family will be legally represented and it is not yet know whether police will also have a barrister.

Leah’s family went through three years and eight months of agony, not knowing whether she was dead or alive. They repeatedly insisted that it was totally out of character for the shy teenager to have voluntarily gone missing.

They were finally able to hold a funeral for her in March last year and hundreds of Milton Keynes people lined the streets to pay their respects and show their support to the family.