Leah Croucher’s parents have spent an agonising three years and eight months waiting for answers after their daughter disappeared on 15 February 2019.
Leah, 19, vanished as she walked to work at a finance company and was last seen on CCTV just after 8.15am in Buzzacott Lane, a two-minute drive away from a house in Furzton, Milton Keynes.
But it was only four days ago on Monday, 10 October, when Thames Valley Police (TVP) received a tip-off from a member of the public, that they started searching the property in Loxbeare Drive.
Image: Officers are guarding the property in the Furzton area of Milton Keynes
Officers discovered items including a rucksack and personal possessions belonging to Leah.
Officers had visited the house on at least two earlier occasions during the investigation but there was no response.
They dropped a leaflet through the letterbox asking for the occupant to call if they had information.
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The force has since changed its investigation from a missing person’s probe to a murder enquiry – as Leah’s parents revealed how their “darkest fears had come true”.
Detectives insisted it is the first time Leah’s disappearance was linked to the address, despite a huge search involving 4,000 house-to-house calls.
TVP said on Friday that during the entire investigation to find the teenager, “there has been no direct link between Maxwell and Leah until Monday”.
Image: A billboard appealing for information at Westfield shopping centre in west London
What have the police done to find Leah since she disappeared?
TVP said on Friday that from the “very outset” of its investigation, the “most experienced and capable detectives, led by a senior investigating officer” were assigned to the case to demonstrate the force’s “determination” to find the 19-year-old.
In a statement released on Friday, Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Hunter insisted “every reasonable line of enquiry” had been pursued “immediately and thoroughly”.
Efforts to locate Leah included:
• Deploying hundreds of officers and staff to search for the teenager • Reviewing 1,200 hours of CCTV • Conducting more than 4,000 house-to-house enquiries • Searching lakes, open land and woodland • Media appeals and offering rewards for help
Leah’s parents said they believe police could not have done anything differently and thanked them for their efforts.
They have described their ordeal as “one of the most difficult times of our lives”.
Image: Neil Maxwell
Missed opportunities to arrest prime suspect Neil Maxwell
Handyman Maxwell was hired in 2018 to complete some maintenance at the property in Loxbeare Drive, whose owner lives overseas.
Maxwell was the only person with keys to the house, which was unoccupied when police visited to conduct their enquiries into Leah’s disappearance.
Maxwell was previously convicted for sexual offences against women and was wanted in connection with a sexual assault in Newport Pagnell, on the outskirts of Milton Keynes, in November 2018.
The attack was initially reported to Bedfordshire Police on 29 November 2018 before the case was transferred to TVP the following day.
The force made a total of 18 failed attempts to arrest Maxwell – initially at an address in Milton Keynes on 30 November, when he was not present.
A nationwide chase ensued with police trailing the suspect around the country.
Maxwell used false names and changed mobile phone and vehicles
Mr Hunter said in a statement: “Maxwell knew he was wanted in connection with the sexual assault and was travelling across the UK and making concerted efforts to evade arrest, including false names and changing his mobile phone and vehicles.
“He is likely to have known that he would be returning to prison if he was arrested and convicted.”
TVP also shared Maxwell’s name with other forces in December 2018 and launched a public appeal on 4 April 2019 – just over a fortnight before he was found dead.
Image: Leah Croucher went missing on 15 February 2019. Pic: Thames Valley Police
Mr Hunter added: “In April 2019, when we published our wanted appeal regarding Maxwell in connection with the sexual assault in Newport Pagnell, and during our entire investigation to find Leah, there has been no direct link between Maxwell and Leah until Monday this week when we were called about the property in Loxbeare Drive.
“If Maxwell were alive today, we would be seeking his arrest in connection with this investigation, so he could be interviewed under caution to provide his account.”
“Whilst Maxwell has been nominated as a suspect, this does not mean he is guilty of any offence,” Mr Hunter added.
He vowed the force would keep an “open mind” as the investigation continues in the hope of “establishing the truth”.
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting Op Innsbruck or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.
Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.
Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.
Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.
Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.
In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.
A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.
“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”
Image: Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.
Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”
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David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”
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Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.
She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.
“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.
“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”
Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.
“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”
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Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”
Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.
“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.
“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.
“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.
“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.
“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”
An ex-prison officer who boasted about performing a sex act on an inmate who “manipulated” her has been jailed.
Mother-of-one Katie Evans, 26, burst into tears in court as the judge described how she was “corrupted” by an “experienced criminal” not long after she started work at Doncaster Prison when she was just 21.
As well as starting an intimate relationship with the prisoner, Daniel Brownley, Evans had more than 140 phone calls with him, moved money around bank accounts for him, and supplied him with information the prison held on him, the court heard.
Brownley had been jailed in 2016 for attempted robbery, burglary and handling stolen goods, the court heard.
“It appears you indulged in some form of sexual activity in the prison. It has been described that on one occasion you had oral sex with him,” Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told Evans at Sheffield Crown Court.
“It is truly a terrible situation for a judge to be passing sentence on a former prison officer who has been branded a corrupt prison officer.”
Judge Richardson told Evans “he corrupted you and not the reverse”, adding: “I’m entirely satisfied you were manipulated by an experienced criminal to assist him.”
He said Evans was “young and immature” at the time but added: “Your misconduct materially affected the good order and discipline of the prison.”
“You were inexperienced and immature but that is, however, no excuse for what you did.”
Judge Richardson said the sentence of 21 months should have been longer but, “purely as an act of mercy”, he reduced it to take into account the effect it will have on Evans’ relationship with her young daughter and the difficulties she will have in prison as a former officer.
Evans, of Hatfield, Doncaster, admitted misconduct in a public office at a previous hearing.
Still crying, she waved at family members in the public gallery as she was led from the dock.