Katrice Lee: Investigation into missing toddler to be scaled back

Katrice had been with her mother at a Naafi supermarket in Paderborn, where her father was stationed, when she disappeared

The father of a toddler who went missing almost 40 years ago says he is "devastated" after an investigation to find her is to be scaled back.

Katrice Lee vanished on her second birthday in November 1981, near the British military base in Germany.

Richard Lee, from Hartlepool, was informed of the latest decision by the Royal Military Police (RMP).

The unit, which has apologised for earlier failings, said it would only investigate if there was new evidence.

It added that the case was not being closed.

Mr Lee, who believes his daughter was abducted, was told at a meeting on Friday that despite its best efforts, the unit had been unable to find out what happened to her.

"I'm absolutely gutted, distraught, frustrated and all I can say is that parents out there if they were in my shoes, they would do what I'm doing," he said.

"It think it rather sad that at the 39-year point, that I'm still fighting for justice for my daughter when all the indications, even in their investigations, have almost proven that she was abducted from day one, and here we are, still struggling to get answers to the questions we ask."

Investigators said they receive calls from people around the world who believe they could be Katrice

Two-year-old Katrice had been with her mother Sharon, from Gosport, at a Naafi supermarket in Paderborn, where her father was stationed, when she disappeared.

The RMP had wrongly believed she had drowned in a nearby river. A forensic search failed to find anything.

During the initial investigation it had also delayed interviewing key witnesses and failed to release a photofit of a suspect for 36 years.

Mike Hill, Labour MP for Hartlepool, said: "The full-scale inquiry into the disappearance of Katrice Lee is no more after today, and that's devastating, disappointing, because we know, we feel it, that Katrice is still out there "

Investigators said they still receive calls from people around the world who believe they could be Katrice.

Defence minister Johnny Mercer MP said he was "confident" the investigation had "done all it can" and it was the "right decision."

"The Lee family have lived for 39 years without knowing what happened to Katrice and I am truly sorry that we are unable to provide them with answers they so desperately desire."