Leah Croucher: Cause of death still under investigation inquest told

Police said the clothes Leah Croucher was wearing in this photo most closely resembled the ones she was wearing when she was last seen, aged 19

The cause of death of murdered teenager Leah Croucher was still being investigated, an inquest heard.

The 19-year-old's remains were found in a property in the Furzton area of Milton Keynes on 10 October, more than three years after she went missing.

Ms Croucher was "identified by dental records" on 14 October, the inquest heard.

Senior coroner for Milton Keynes, Tom Osborne, adjourned the inquest while the police investigation continued.

Thames Valley Police previously named Neil Maxwell, who died in April 2019 aged 49, as the murder suspect.

Ms Croucher was last seen on 15 February 2019 and it was believed she was walking to work.

In October 2022, officers found her remains and possessions, including a backpack, in the loft of a house in Loxbeare Drive where Maxwell had worked as a handyman.

• Suspect's past reveals catalogue of sex offences

• The quiet teenager who vanished on her way to work

• Police identify body at house as Leah Croucher

At the time Ms Croucher went missing, Maxwell was on the run from police in connection with a sexual assault in Newport Pagnell near Milton Keynes in November 2018, and he had previous convictions for sexual offences against women and children.

The property where Ms Croucher was found is less than half a mile (0.8km) from where she was last seen on Buzzacott Lane walking in the direction of Loxbeare Drive and Chaffron Way.

Previously, the force said Maxwell was the only person to have keys to the house when Ms Croucher vanished.

The inquest heard that the cause of death remained under investigation following post-mortem tests carried out by pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer on 14 October.

An interim death certificate has been signed by the coroner to allow the family to proceed with funeral arrangements.

Leah Croucher: A timeline

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

• 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 shows 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 says three people had reported possible sightings of Ms Croucher 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 the lake, and surrounding area at the Blue Lagoon nature reserve in Bletchley, finds nothing

• 16 November 2019: Leah's brother Haydon Croucher dies by suicide

• 15 February 2021: On the second anniversary of her disappearance, police say there are "no significant leads" and the case is "bewildering and frustrating"

• 12 October 2022: Police open a murder investigation after unidentified human remains and a rucksack containing personal possessions belonging to Leah are found in the loft of a home on Loxbeare Drive in Furzton

• 14 October 2022: Neil Maxwell, a deceased sex offender, is named main suspect in the case by police

• 21 October 2022: Police confirm that a body found in a the house on Loxbeare Drive belongs to Leah Croucher, but cannot confirm the cause of death yet

• 25 January 2023: Inquest opened and adjourned into Lea Croucher's death