Leah Croucher: Parents 'in hell' over daughter's 2019 disappearance

The parents of a woman who has been missing for 18 months have spoken of the "living hell" of waiting for news about her.

Leah Croucher, 20, whose 21st birthday is on Friday, was last seen in Milton Keynes on 15 February 2019.

Her parents John and Claire said: "The past 18 months have been a living hell, a waking nightmare that does not stop."

A £10,000 reward has been offered for information that leads to Ms Croucher being found.

Her mobile phone and bank account have not been used since she disappeared.

Det Ch Insp Andy Howard, of Thames Valley Police, called on anyone who knows anything about her disappearance to contact the force.

"Please consider the impact on Leah's family of them not knowing what has happened to her and help us to give them the answers they are so desperately seeking," he said.

Ms Croucher, then 19, was last seen in Buzzacott Lane in Furzton, Milton Keynes, just after 08:15 GMT, having left the family home in Quantock Crescent, Emerson Valley.

Three witnesses reported that a female, who could possibly have been her, was seen next to Furzton Lake, between 09:30 and 11:15 GMT.

Despite a search of the lake, the reward and widespread appeals from her family nothing has been found.

Last November, Ms Croucher's brother Hayden, 24, took his own life.

In a statement issued through police, Mr and Mrs Croucher said: "We are missing Leah so much it is crippling. We miss Haydon just as much.

"The hardest to cope with are the dreams where I am hugging you Leah, because I've found you, or you have come home, or the police have found you."

Det Ch Insp Howard, of the Major Crime Unit, said: "I would like to reach out and appeal to the residents and commuters in this area, particularly Buzzacott Lane, Dulverton Drive, Loxbeare Avenue and the roads close to Furzton Lake.

"We know these locations were such a feature of Leah's weekday routine. The smallest piece of information could be absolutely key."