Leah Croucher: Human remains found in missing teen murder probe

Leah Croucher, 19, was last seen on CCTV on 15 February 2019 in Milton Keynes

Police investigating the murder of 19-year-old Leah Croucher have found human remains at a property where some of her possessions were discovered.

Thames Valley Police earlier found her rucksack and personal items at a house on Loxbeare Drive in Furzton, Milton Keynes.

The teenager was last seen on CCTV in the city on 15 February 2019.

Formal identification has not taken place but Miss Croucher's family were being kept informed, the force said.

• The quiet teenager who vanished on her way to work

"It is likely to take some time to formally identify the deceased," a spokesperson said.

Officers have been at the property since 18:30 BST on Monday, after they received information from a member of the public, and said on Wednesday that a murder investigation had begun after her possessions were found.

Later, human remains were discovered during "forensic examinations".

A police tent has been put up outside a house on Loxbeare Drive in Furzton, Milton Keynes

Police described the scene as "challenging and complex" and said the "forensic examination continues and will do for some time".

Since Miss Croucher's disappearance on her way to work at a finance company three years ago, police have carried out more than 4,000 house-to-house inquiries and reviewed 1,200 hours of CCTV footage.

Forensics experts have been seen getting specialist equipment from a white van parked on the drive of the neighbouring property, and also from a marked police truck on the street.

Forensics officers have been seen taking special equipment into the house

Miss Croucher was described by loved ones as "very quiet" and "not really an outgoing type of person", preferring to read fantasy fiction or watch DVDs in her room to nights out at the pub.

She had competed internationally in taekwondo but her father said she was "not a fighter".

A reward poster is pinned to a tree just yards from the home police have been searching

At the scene: Jo Black, BBC News

Officers are coming and going, many in forensics suits.

Beyond the police tape, the atmosphere is one of confusion. People linger around the cordon wondering what is happening in this usually quiet area.

For neighbours it's a sense of shock and heartbreak. Many helped look for Leah after she went missing - a reward poster is pinned to a tree just yards from the hive of police activity.

CCTV footage showed the last confirmed sighting of Leah Croucher walking to work on the day she disappeared

Miss Croucher's family was struck by further tragedy when her half-brother, Haydon Croucher, took his own life, aged 24, in November 2019.

His mother said he had found the disappearance "very difficult".

A police scene is likely to remain in place for days to come

Following the update on the investigation, Ben Everitt, Conservative MP for Milton Keynes North, said he hoped it could "provide some answers to Leah's loved ones".

"My thoughts continue to be with Leah's family and friends at this incredibly difficult time," he said.

Leah Croucher: A timeline

• 14 February 2019: Leah Croucher is last seen by her parents at the family home in Quantock Crescent, Milton Keynes at 22:00 GMT

• 15 February 2019: CCTV footage showed her walking down Buzzacott Lane in Furzton at 08:16. She was thought to be going to her job at a finance company, but she never arrived

• April 2019: Thames Valley Police said three people had reported possible sightings of Leah near Furzton Lake between 09:30 and 11:15, on the day she went missing

• October 2019: A two-week search by Thames Valley Police of a lake and surrounding area at the Blue Lagoon nature reserve in Bletchley finds nothing

• February 2021: On the second anniversary of her disappearance, police said there had been "no significant lead" and the case was "bewildering and frustrating"

• October 2022: Police open a murder investigation after unidentified human remains and a rucksack and personal possessions belonging to Leah are found at a property on Loxbeare Drive in Furzton, Milton Keynes