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Police made “very serious” oversights when searching for missing teenager Leah Croucher, an expert has said, as her parents described their “darkest hour” following the discovery of their daughter’s remains. Charlie Hedges, a retired missing persons detective with 36 years’ experience, has described how police appeared to wait far too long before searching a paedophile’s former home for missing Leah, particularly considering the 19-year-old went was last seen just 500 yards from the property in February 2019. On Monday, human remains were discovered in the house, but police admitted that during their investigation they had only dropped leaflets through the door, and not followed up when no response came through. The questions over the police’s investigation come as Leah’s family leave heartbreaking notes with flowers near the property in Milton Keynes, promising to “cherish your memories forever”.
Ms Croucher, 19, was last seen on CCTV in Buzzacott Lane, Furzton, just after 8.15am on February 15 2019 walking in the direction of Loxbeare Drive and Chaffron Way. But despite this location being less than half a mile away from the former house of a paedophile, officers only dropped leaflets through the door, and never went back for follow-up enquiries.
Mr Hedges told the Metro that officers might have been busy, but they weren’t “looking in the right places”, adding that the lack of a response from the house should have “raised suspicions”.
He said: “It’s an incremental process, you start with a question mark, and you do have to see whether it’s a serious question mark. This sounds like it could be a very serious one, that police have missed. There does seem to be a bit of a concern and question marks over this.”
A Thames Valley spokesperson, confirming that they had not entered the property prior to Monday, added that police had visited 4,000 addresses during their investigations.
Mr Hedges added that house-to-house enquiries should be “logged and monitored”, with officers “flagging” those that don’t respond.
He admitted that there while may have been a good reason why officers had not gone back to the house sooner, the decision not to “asks more questions than it answers”.
Thames Valley Police began searching the house on Monday (October 10) following a tip-off from a member of the public – and found human remains at the property the following Wednesday. The force confirmed on Thursday that it was the first time officers entered the property as part of the investigation.
A spokesman said “the address was visited as part our house-to-house enquiries as part of the investigation, during which we visited more than 4,000 addresses”.
He added that “there was no response at the property and as such leaflets would have been dropped through the letterbox”.
The question mark over the police’s conduct during the investigation comes as Leah’s grandparents leave a powerful note near the scene of her remains promising to “never stop seeking answers”.
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“We will cherish your memories forever. We love you, mum and dad.”
Nine months after Leah’s disappearance, her heartbroken brother Hayden Croucher, 24, was discovered by his mother and sister Jade hanged at his flat and later died in hospital.
In a statement on the anniversary of Leah’s disappearance last February, her parents posted on social media: “Each day is torture. Each day feels like an eternity of pain and despair.”
Wellwishers have created the letter L out of flowers, candles, teddy bears and tea-lights at the edge of the police tape that cordons off the house. The convicted paedophile who lived at the property was not there in February 2019, when Leah vanished on her way to work, according to reports, and was instead caged at HMP Littlehey, Cambs. The property, which has been empty since 2019, is reportedly owned by a Kuwaiti businesswoman with no connection to the investigation.
Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Hunter said the scene there is “difficult and challenging” and “thorough and respectful” searches may take some time.
He added: “The call from the member of the public that we received on Monday was the first occasion that we were alerted to this address, and we thank them for contacting us immediately to report their concerns. Our thoughts remain with Leah’s family and friends, and we will continue to offer them all the support that they need.”
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