Katrice Lee disappearance: Facebook abuse case in court

Katrice Lee was two when she went missing

A woman has been accused of using Facebook to harass the family of a girl who went missing from near an Army base in Germany more than 30 years ago.

Donna Wright, 33, of Hillside Court, Spennymoor, County Durham, is alleged to have used Facebook to send messages to Katrice Lee's family in Hampshire.

The girl went missing on her birthday in 1981 from near the base in Paderborn.

Ms Wright did not appear at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates' Court and the case was adjourned until 16 January.

Katrice's mother Sharon, from Gosport, Hampshire, and father Richard Lee, from Hartlepool, Teesside, believe she was snatched and may still be alive.

'Case never closed'

Ms Wright, who is on bail, has been charged under the Protection from Harassment Act.

She is accused of harassing the family by sending emails and Facebook messages between December 2011 and November 2012.

Katrice disappeared from a shop while her family was buying party food at a NAAFI store in Schloss Neuhaus, near the West German base where her father was stationed as a sergeant in the British Army.

The case, which was never closed, is now being reinvestigated by the Royal Military Police, with images supplied by the charity Missing People, which shows how Katrice could look now, aged 33.