'Help bring Leah and other missing people home this Christmas,' say heartbroken Croucher family in Milton Keynes

Jade Croucher and her family are still reeling from the tragic loss of her brother Haydon, who took his own life last week at the age of 24.

Haydon had suffered depression since 20-year-old Leah vanished without trace while walking to work in Milton Keynes nine months ago, on February 15.

In a poignant appeal for people to help, Jade revealed how the family is dreading Christmas without both Haydon and Leah.

“Christmas this year will be full of heartache, sadness and despair. It is something we are dreading. Christmas is a time for family, a time for love, and time for togetherness. For us, it will be emptiness. Leah being missing has left an enormous hole in our lives, one that cannot be filled until she is home,” she said.

Jade added: “ We have prayed every second of the day that our beautiful Leah is safe, and that she will be home, in our arms where she belongs. Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened.”

“Much like many of you are probably thinking right now, whenever we saw news of a missing person in the past we felt sadness for the families and friends suffering. Never in our lives did we think we would be living that nightmare. But we are.

“People try to support you, try to understand, but the truth is that no one really knows how it feels; everyone other than the Missing People charity. The staff and volunteers are a lifeline for families like mine. They have the experience that no one else does, they say the right things, they provide invaluable advice and information that can otherwise be very hard to find and assist with raising appeals. In an unimaginable nightmare they somehow manage to ease the pain. “

Last Christmas 191 people appealed for through Missing People were found safe and well. Jade, who has already raised £3,000 for the charity through a sponsored mountain climb this summer, is urging people to help make that number even higher this year.

You can donate to the Missing People Home for Christmas appeal on behalf of the Croucher family here.