Thames Valley Police officers investigating the murder of Leah Croucher in Milton Keynes have today (21/10) confirmed that she has been formally identified.
A Home Office post-mortem, which was conducted last week, has been inconclusive as to the cause of Leah’s death and investigations are continuing.
A murder investigation was launched last week following the discovery of Leah in the loft space of 2 Loxbeare Drive, Furzton, Milton Keynes.
A number of items linked to the investigation were found at the house of interest after somebody doing work at the address for the property owner made a call to the police. Specialist officers and forensic teams have since been attending the location. During the ongoing investigation at the scene, human remains were identified.
The Detective Chief Superintendent confirmed that the owner had rarely been in the UK during the length of the investigation due to COVID so often commissioned for work to be done at the address and the person doing work had been commissioned separately - there is no link between this person and the address.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown, the Head of the Major Crime Unit, said: “The thoughts of all of us at Thames Valley Police remain and will always be with Leah’s family and friends.
“The entirety of our investigation keeps them uppermost in our minds, and they continue to be supported by specially trained officers and updated on every development.
“After a difficult process, we are now in a position to formally confirm that the body found in Loxbeare Drive last week is that of Leah.
“The grief and shock of Leah’s family and friends is unimaginable, and they have shown enormous courage, patience and dignity over the last three years and eight months while our search for Leah continued.
“They have always been supportive of Thames Valley Police, both during our extensive missing person investigation and this subsequent investigation into Leah’s murder.
“We ask again, on their behalf, to please respect their privacy at what is such a traumatic and upsetting time for them all.
“Our investigations into Leah’s murder will leave no stone unturned, and we owe it to Leah’s family to ensure we find the truth.
“We are absolutely committed to doing so, to allow them to gain an understanding of what happened to Leah.”
On Friday, in a statement to the local and national media, police confirmed that they have nominated a suspect in connection with the investigation into the disappearance of Leah Croucher in Milton Keynes.
The suspect has been named as convicted sex offender Neil Maxwell, police have released details of the suspect who took his life on 20th April 2019.
Thames Valley Police have reported that media organisations have attempted to contact Leah's family, MKFM would like to assure that no attempts have been made from us.
