Veteran whose daughter, 2, vanished 42 years ago hands back medals in outrage

27 November 2023 , 18:01

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Katrice Lee is still missing more than four decades on

The father of a youngster who went missing as a two-year-old in Germany 42 years ago is to hand back his Army medals in protest over the handling of the case.

Little Katrice Lee vanished on her birthday near a British military base in Paderborn, west Germany. Now Richard Lee, of Hartlepool, plans to go to Downing Street and give back his medals in “disgust”. Katrice was with her mum Sharon, and her aunt, Wendy, at a NAAFI supermarket when she disappeared on 28 November 1981.

Richard a former warrant officer, served in the Army for more than 30 years, including in the 15/19 Royal King’s Hussars in former West Germany and says his family have been let down from day one”. He is planning to hand back his Northern Ireland general service medal and another medal awarded to him for 30-years’ service and good conduct. He said: “The medals mean nothing to me, my daughter means everything.

Missing Katrice Lee (bottom right), who disappeared 40 years ago, outside a Naafi supermarket in Schloss Neuhaus near Paderborn, Germany (Richard Lee/Sunday Mirror)

Katrice in 1981, the year she went missing

“I was given a gift, my gift, my daughter, was stolen and I want her back. I believe she is still out there, and I am totally devastated at the lack of support this case is getting.”

Mr Lee said a meeting with the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in May 2022 was a “publicity stunt”. He said he was given very little notice ahead of the meeting, which took place during a visit by Mr Johnson to Hartlepool, and that nothing “meaningful” was discussed.

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Katrice as a baby with her mother Sharon (top left) father Richard (top right) and sister Natasha (bottom right)

A planned meeting between Mr Lee and Margaret Thatcher in 1982 had been cancelled because of the Falklands war. In 2012, the Royal Military Police apologised for failings in the initial investigation and reopened its inquiries under the title Operation Bute.

The government agreed to review the case in 2017. The same year a photo-fit of a man seen putting a child in car, created shortly after Katrice went missing, emerged. The following year, focus shifted to the bank of the Alme river, near where Katrice had vanished, with more than 100 soldiers carrying out a five-week excavation.

Former Sergeant Richard Lee returned to the spot outside former Naafi supermarket in Schloss Neuhaus where his little girl disappeared (Julian Hamilton/Sunday Mirror)

However, the MoD says “all active lines of enquiry have since been completed” and that a review of Operation Bute was carried out by an independent panel. It added: “Our sympathies are with Richard Lee and his family as they continue to search for answers.

“The Ministry of Defence Serious Crime Command and Unit, which now holds primacy for the investigation, continues to welcome any additional information that could help to determine Katrice’s whereabouts.”

Stephen White