The parents of Leah Croucher have paid their first tribute to the teenager after she was found dead in a Milton Keynes loft more than three years since going missing.
In a tribute to their “bright, funny young” daughter, the 19-year-old's family said they knew the “heartbreaking news” of her death would “come one day” but they are “devastated” to have been proven right.
“The deepest, darkest grief that we, Leah's family and friends are experiencing over the past weeks shows us that glimmer was actually, foolishly, a shining beacon of hope, which has now been brutally extinguished in the cruellest and harshest of ways,” they said.
“It has been a long way to fall back to reality.”
Leah’s parents Claire and John Croucher laid flowers at the house in Milton Keynes where human remains have been found. They left a note nearby that said: “Our darkest fears have come true.”
The site is minutes from where Leah vanished on her way to work in 2019.
Leah has been described as a quiet teenager who enjoyed reading fantasy fiction or watching DVDs. She was a second Dan black belt, a national and European champion in the world of Taekwondo. She loved training younger fighters in the family club she ran with her dad.
Police formally identified a body found in the loft of a Milton Keynes house was Leah Croucher. A Home Office post-mortem has been inconclusive as to the cause of Leah’s death and Thames Valley Police said investigations are ongoing.
The tribute continued: “Leah had so much to achieve in her life, milestones that will now never be met. Family holidays, marriage, children, promotion, having her own home. So many ‘could have beens.’
“The void left in our lives after Leah’s disappearance was immense, a pain almost too big to bear. However, there is little that compares to the deep chasm Leah’s death has brought to us.
“Leah’s presence and warmth impacted on all who knew her, her disappearance has impacted on an entire city and beyond.
“We were able to love you for 19 wonderful years Leah and make amazing memories together as a family, memories that we hope will be sufficient to carry us through the dark and lonely years we have to come.”
A murder investigation was launched earlier this month following the discovery of Leah in the loft space of 2 Loxbeare Drive, Furzton, Milton Keynes.
Police also found items belonging to Leah – who was last seen in February 2019, aged 19.
Detectives named a dead sex offender as the prime suspect in Leah’s murder.
Neil Maxwell would have been arrested in connection with the murder probe into Leah if he were alive, the force said. He died by suicide in April 2019 at 49-years-old.
The suspect had previous convictions for sexual offences against females, officers said. He was wanted in connection with a sexual assault in Newport Pagnell, a town in the Milton Keynes area, in November 2018.
Senior investigating officer detective superintendent Kevin Brown, head of the Major Crime Unit, said: “The grief and shock of Leah’s family and friends is unimaginable, and they have shown enormous courage, patience and dignity over the last three years and eight months while our search for Leah continued,” Mr Brown said.
“They have always been supportive of Thames Valley Police, both during our extensive missing person investigation and this subsequent investigation into Leah’s murder.
“Our investigations into Leah’s murder will leave no stone unturned, and we owe it to Leah’s family to ensure we find the truth.”
