Could a 'lying boyfriend' know what happened to Leah Croucher from Milton Keynes?

John Croucher describes the past 17 months as "torturous" and is more determined than ever to discover what has happened to Leah.

He is convinced Leah did not vanish unaided or deliberately as she walked to work on the morning of February 15 2019.

And he has previously revealed his suspicion that Leah, who was 19 when she went missing, had been romantically but secretly involved with an older man.

Because the man cannot be named for legal reasons, the MK Citizen has to refer to him as Mr X.

In March, the Crouchers publicly criticised the police for the first time during the long investigation, saying they did not feel they did enough to investigate Leah's love life.

He said: "Mr X is the only anomaly that was in Leah's life. The only thing she lied about. We feel information he may have is our only chance of finding her.

"We kept quiet because the police strongly advised us it was the right thing to do. They asked us to trust them. We have to finally and publicly admit we think they are wrong."

John and his wife Claire are convinced there are people out there who know what happened to Leah and maybe know about a boyfriend. But they are keeping quiet, perhaps out of fear.

He said today: "If you are reading this and you know where Leah is, call 101 or Crimestoppers. Let us have our daughter back. Collect your reward. Give us peace. Stop protecting a lying boyfriend. Give us closure."

Next month, August 14, is Leah's 21st birthday.

John said: " We should be planning a surprise party for you... We should be hiding calls from secret, surprise guests. We should be shopping for a beautiful piece of jewellery for you to keep forever, until you pass it onto your children.

"Instead we are sitting here, empty, void of plans. Instead we are dreading the 14th of August. Thinking how can you not be here for your birthday again? How can there be a second birthday where we still don't know where you are. Or how you are?"

He added: "Please, if by some miracle you are reading this Leah, COME HOME. We all miss you so much. Our hearts are breaking. We are looking for you every day. We worry about you every minute. We dream about you.

"Your family need to know what happened to you. We need to know what happened and where you are. We just want to give you the biggest, longest hug. We want to know that you are safe. Please come home to us. We love you and miss you more than words can express."

This week the Crouchers have been out and about in MK re-erecting the signs and banners over bridges that seek information about Leah.

The family had taken them down at the start of lockdown as they were worried they would blow down and they couldn't keep an eye on them.

If you know anything at all about Leah, you can stay totally anonymous and call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Or you can call police on 101 and collect a £10,000 reward.

Leah's family is asking that people share this story as far and wide as they can. If anybody sees Leah, they should call 101 immediately, asking for Thames Valley Police and quoting reference 43190049929.