Family of missing Milton Keynes woman Leah Croucher look back on second year of torment as no further clues emerge

And still police, family and friends have not a single clue to help them understand what happened to the shy and home-loving young woman on that fateful February morning.

They have narrowed her disappearance down to an 18 minute window of time and a single square mile of roads and green spaces in Milton Keynes. Her family, the people who knew her best, are convinced Leah - who was skilled at martial arts - did not vanish voluntarily and was taken against her will.

But incredibly, nobody has ever come forward with a sighting of anything suspicious or unusual that happened between 8.16am and 8.34am on the morning of February 15 2019.

CCTV lost contact with Leah somewhere along the mile-long stretch between Buzzacott Lane in Furzton and Furzton Lake, and her phone was switched off or disconnected at exactly 8.34am at the northern end of Furzton Lake, close to the Premier Inn Hotel.

Our map shows the single square mile and the routes Leah may have taken that morning. There are several different ways to get from A to B but all involve a 10 or 15 minute walk or a five minute drive. And each route passes houses and roads that would have been bustling with school and work traffic.

The streets Leah might have walked within the crucial square mile include Loxbeare Drive, Shirwell Crescent, Dulverton Drive, Lynmouth Crescent, Porlock Lane, Morebath Grove, Bilbrook Lane, Radworthy, Bickleigh Crescent, Radworthy, Pinkworhty, Wistmans, Exebridge, Swimbridge Lane and Shallowford Grove. The area is bordered by two grid roads - Chaffron Way (H7) and Fulmer Street (V3).

Today, as 2020 draws to a close, we are urging people once again to cast their minds back to the morning after Valentine's Day almost two years ago. We are asking residents in all those streets to think back to a year ago. We are begging taxi drivers to check their records and car drivers to focus their minds. Did you see a brown-haired girl dressed in dark clothing get into a vehicle? Did you see any disturbance? Perhaps you thought Leah was a schoolgirl. At 19, fresh-faced and wearing no make-up, she could look younger than her years. She may or may not have had her glasses on.

The man in charge of the case, the Major Crime Unit's Detective Chief Inspector Andy Howard, says his team has knocked on hundreds of doors and examined numerous hours of CCTV.

"We have undertaken a huge amount of work on this case, but we are unfortunately no further forward today than we were a few days after Leah disappeared. It is an incredibly unusual and baffling case," he said

Leah's dad John Croucher said: "Today is New Year's Eve. The phrase Happy New Year feels hollow on our lips. Tomorrow we will lock ourselves away for the day, as we did over Christmas. Forgive us for being rude but we just don't feel able to pretend at the minute. We are tired and broken. No-one should have to bear pain in this volume. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."

Tragically John lost his son Haydon, Leah's half brother, at the end of 2019. The caring young man took his own life because he could not bear the lack of progress being made in finding Leah.

John said: "So many people have been affected by one young lady's disappearance and one young man's death. It isn't just us, their immediate family, that have been affected. Friends, work colleagues and our taekwondo family have all felt the despair and pain"

He added: "Thank you to everyone who has supported us this past year. The shares and retweets on social media. Donations to just giving pages. The poster coverage worldwide. The kind words and food. The hugs. The press coverage. The police support. Charity support. Small business displaying Leah's posters on their work vans. Work colleagues running super marathons. Our kind anonymous angel with the donation of the reward money. Thank you every single person.

"The year ends as it began for us. We still have to beg you...please help us to end our pain and suffering. Help us to find out what happened to our daughter. We miss her so much it's unbearable."

"All the time there is the same question at the front of our thoughts: 'WHERE ARE YOU LEAH?' Over and over, until you feel you are going insane. Feeling as if you are going to drown in compassion and despair. How can someone disappear like this in this technological age?"

John and Clare are convinced there was evidence their daughter was having a secret romance with an older man before she went missing, and in the past they have publicly criticised police for "not looking closely enough" at this possibility.

Police revealed to the MK Citizen that nobody has ever been interviewed as a suspect in the case.

A police spokesman said: "The investigation into Leah’s disappearance continues with dedicated resources, led by the Major Crime Unit, in order to assess and explore any new lines of enquiry."

Over the months, there have been numerous 'sightings' of Leah reported by members of the public. Police have investigated each one, but none of them turned out to be her.

The spokesman said: "All reports of information or potential sightings are explored and investigated accordingly, however at this time we have not received any confirmed sightings of Leah, or any confirmed reports of her location."

The family is certain that there is somebody out there who knows exactly what happened that morning and is keeping a massive secret. They believe that person could even have told their family or friends and they too are keeping quiet.

Leah's aunt Teresa Nicholls has now put out a fresh appeal for the truth to finally be told.

She said: "For the person or the people out there that know where Leah is stop, stop hiding the truth, stop lying or stop protecting someone. Place yourself in our shoes just for a minute...can you feel that.... can you feel the pain, worry, sadness and heartache?"

To Leah herself, Theresa said: "If for some completely unimaginable reason you have felt the need to and chosen to go off somewhere, then please please just make a call to someone, anyone to tell us you are alive and safe. I can’t see any reason why you would but to know that’s what you have chosen I will have to accept and pray that one day you will come back to us. Just please let us know. The not knowing is unbearable."

If you know anything about Leah's disappearance, please contact police immediately on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. There is a £10,000 reward.