Family of missing toddler Katrice Lee still searching for clues - 42 years on

01 November 2023 , 19:25

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Richard Lee holding a photograph of his missing daughter (Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)

On her second birthday, Katrice Lee visited the mall with her parents, just like any other toddler. They had been looking forward to celebrating their little girl's day on November 28, 1981, and had gone shopping to buy some gifts and to get some party food for a family get-together later on.

But it was the last time the toddler was seen, and now more than 40 years later, her whereabouts remains a mystery. In tonight's new series of Vanished: The Search for Britain's Missing on Channel 5, host Dan Walker delves into what happened on that fateful day, and hears from her family members and army officials who took part in the investigation.

Missing Katrice was an armed forces child, as her father, Richard Lee, was a sergeant major in The King's Royal Hussars of the British Army, stationed in West Germany. The family, made up of Richard and wife Sharon, and Katrice's elder sister Natasha, lived in the Schloß Neuhaus area of Paderborn.

Katrice Lee in 1981 about 17/18 months old

The British parents decided to go to the nearby NAAFI shopping complex to buy gifts, whilst Natasha, who didn't want to go shopping, stayed home with her aunt Wendy and uncle Cliff, who had come over from Bielefeld for the birthday party. As the last payday before Christmas, the mall is said to have been exceptionally busy.

Richard reportedly waited for the mum and daughter in the car, whilst they went off to the shops, with Sharon carrying her little one in her arms. But when Sharon reportedly put her down at the checkout, she briefly left to purchase some crisps, and when she returned, she realised Katrice had vanished.

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At the time of her disappearance, curly-haired Katrice, who had brown eyes, was wearing red Wellington boots, a turquoise duffel coat, a green and blue tartan pinafore dress with frills around the shoulders, with a white blouse underneath, and matching white tights. She had a pink birthmark slightly to the right of the base of her spine, which looked like a rash, and a strabismus in her left eye.

Richard, who now lives in Hartlepool, was not interviewed for the programme, however told local paper Hartlepool Mail that he believes she was taken. Speaking about the episode, he said: "I understand it will not be a finger pointing exercise. This is to get the story out there.

The Lee family of four - Katrice as a baby with her mother Sharon (top left) father Richard (top right) and sister Natasha (bottom right)

"It's the story of Katrice, a little girl who in our eyes was taken and is living another life. It keeps people aware that my daughter's still missing." Both the military police and civilian police looked into the case, and believed the little girl had fallen into nearby River Lippe and downed, however no body was discovered and no trace of Katrice was found.

The case of her disappearance was reopened in 2000 amid computer advancements, which helped police release an image of how she could look now as a woman. A few people came forward - a man who had stood behind her mum at the checkout, and another woman who said her boyfriend had confessed to murdering a child - however he denied it.

After her story appeared on Missing Live and Katrice's sister Natasha appeared on Crimewatch to highlight the appeal, an anonymous woman left a message with Richard, saying "look for your daughter in France" - however nothing came of it. In September 2019, a man from Swindon, Wiltshire, was arrested in connection with her disappearance, though subsequently released without charge.

One theory is that she was abducted and raised by another family in Europe and is unaware of her true identity. And there's hopefully a new clue given her eye condition, which would have required an operation to correct, the Lee family appealed to medical personnel with such knowledge of operations to come forward.

If you have information on Katrice Lee, you can contact Missing People at https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/help-us-find/katrice-lee-00-001489#

Vanished: The Search for Britain's Missing airs tonight at 8pm on Channel 5.

Saffron Otter