The family of a toddler who went missing from a British military base in Germany more than 30 years ago have appealed to the Prime Minister to help them.
Katrice Lee vanished on the 28th November 1981. It was her second birthday and she had been taken on a trip to the NAAFI shop AT Schloss Neuhaus, Paderborn where her mother Sharon and aunt Wendy were buying party food.
Mrs Lee left Katrice with her sister to buy some crisps but returned to find Katrice had gone. Her sister said she had run after her mother down the aisle but there was no sign of her.
Both the Royal Military Police and German police at the time concluded Katrice had fallen into a river 200 metres away.
Despite an extensive search, no trace of Katrice was ever found. Her family believe she was abducted.
Sharon Lee said: "I still cannot understand to this day how my daughter managed to push her way through a crowded NAAFI, bearing in mind she was two that morning.
"She fell into the river, according to the German police authorities. That's their theory. It's not mine, it never has been mine and it never will be mine."
The Lee family have spent the last 30 years looking for their daughter and it has changed their lives.
"On the 28th November 1981 my world as I knew it stopped. Not just my world, obviously Natasha's world, she was only 7, my husband's and all of our family's," Mrs Lee told Forces News.
"Life has never been the same and it won't be the same. You keep going because at the end of the day you have another child and because I want to find out what happened to my daughter. I want justice for my daughter."
A computer generated image of what Katrice could look like now has been created by the charity Missing People and the Prime Minister has now agreed to look into the case after pressure from the families MP Caroline Dinenage.
She said: "The Royal Military Police from day one didn't necessarily act in a way that we would have liked. There were very very major problems with the way they conducted the enquiry. People like the ladies that worked on the till in the shop that Katrice went missing weren't questioned for weeks and weeks after she went missing. Even the border guards were not told for 48 hours. You know there were various failures in the way that this was handled and conducted. And I think the family deserve to hear the truth, just for their own piece of mind."
The family have also pressed the Royal Military Police for the files on their daughter's disappearance but the Ministry of Defence said these cannot be released because the investigation is ongoing.
In a statement the Senior Investigating Officer for the case said they were working with the German authorities to re-examine the circumstances of Katrice's disappearance.
Major Clive Robins told British Forces News: "This truly is a tragic case and one that the Lee family have had to live with for over thirty years. It is my hope and ultimate aim that by applying modern investigative techniques we can shed some light on what happened to Katrice and therefore bring closure for Ritchie, Sharon and Natasha".
HELP FIND KATRICE
Operation BUTE -- HIA is re-investigating the disappearance of Katrice Lee from the NAAFI, Schloss Neuhaus, Paderborn, Germany on Sat 28 Nov 1981.
If you have any information that you think may help the Inquiry, no matter how insignificant you feel it might be, please contact the Op BUTE Inquiry team on any of the following:
Mil: 94321 3657
Civ: 01980 673657
UK Freephone: 0800 616888
German Civil: 0049 (0)5241 1799253
E-mail: operationbute@rmp.mod.uk
You can also call the Confidential Helpline for Missing People on 0500 700 700 or email seensomeone@missingpeople.org.uk
PICTURE: Courtesy Missing People
