Military police are launching a fresh search for the daughter of a British Army sergeant major who disappeared from a barracks supermarket in Germany 36 years ago.
Katrice Lee, from Hartlepool, went missing from a Naafi shop near the city of Paderborn, where her father was then stationed, in 1981.
The Royal Military Police (RMP) “is now to carry out a five-week excavation of the banks of the River Alme in Paderborn”, reports the BBC.
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The move follows re-analysis of evidence gathered during the original investigation, which pinpointed the area as of possible interest, the force said.
Katrice’s father, Richard Lee, welcomed the search, but told the broadcaster it should have been undertaken years ago.
He said: “This should have been done in the early days of the investigation into Katrice’s disappearance.
“I’m a little bit upset that it has taken this length of time.”
Who is Katrice Lee?
Katrice and her sister Natasha lived with their parents in Paderborn, West Germany, where their father served in the 15/19 King’s Royal Hussars.
On 28 November 1981, Katrice’s second birthday, “the family decided to go to the Naafi in nearby Schloss Neuhaus to buy things for her party”, says The Daily Telegraph.
How did she disappear?
“Katrice wouldn’t sit in the trolley, so I carried her all the way around in my arms doing my shopping,” Katrice’s mum, Sharon, now 64, told The Sun.
“When we got to the checkout I realised I’d forgotten crisps. I put Katrice down and said to my sister Wendy, ‘Just keep an eye on her while I go back to the crisps stand.’ It wasn’t far away. It took me about 40 seconds, a minute at most.”
When she returned, Katrice was gone. “My sister said: ‘I thought she was with you. She ran and followed you.’”
At the time, “a major search for the child was undertaken by the RMP, German police, British troops and volunteers”, says Sky News.
But the initial investigation produced little results. Police dredged the River Lippe, near to the Naafi, and conducted house-to-house inquiries, but no trace of Katrice was found.
Why was the case reopened?
The case was reopened in 2000, when police issued an image of what Katrice might look like 19 years on, and then again in 2012.
The Lees have been critical of the initial investigation, which focused on the River Lippe, and RMP chiefs admitted that mistakes were made. The family says it took too long to interview witnesses and that they felt “brushed over” by the authorities.
The latest investigation is considering the theory that the toddler was abducted and possibly taken to the River Alme.
In a statement, the British Ministry of Defence said: “This is an extremely distressing case and our thoughts remain with the family of Katrice Lee.
“The Royal Military Police are reinvestigating and it would be inappropriate to comment further while these efforts continue.”
What is happening this week?
The possibility “remains that Katrice is still alive”, says HuffPost. She would now be aged 38, and would have little memory of her early years.
She was “born with a distinctive eye condition in her left eye which would have required two medical operations to correct”, the website adds.
Warrant Officer Class 1 Richard O’Leary, the RMP’s senior investigating officer in the case, told The Guardian that his team would be carrying out a dig at the River Alme’s banks in Paderborn, after identifying the site as important.
“In February 2017, the case featured on BBC Crimewatch,” said O’Leary. “As part of the feature, a photofit was released of a man seen at the Naafi on the day Katrice disappeared, holding a child similar to Katrice and getting into a green saloon car. We are keen to hear from anyone who could help to identify this person.
“A green saloon car was also seen on the river Alme bridge near the Naafi the day after Katrice disappeared. It may or may not be the same car, but we are very keen to identify it.
“We are appealing to members of the public and the military community, including veterans and retired civil servants in both Germany and the UK: do you know what happened to Katrice?”
