Leah Croucher's killer 'has my brother's blood on hands too', says grieving sister Jade
The sister of Leah Croucher said her killer had the blood of her brother on his hands too - as she told the murdered teenager: "You deserved more than this".
Jade Croucher took to Instagram to write the heartbreaking message to 19-year-old Leah who disappeared in February 2019.
Her family spent more than three years desperately searching for answers after she disappeared on her way to work. Her remains were finally found at a house in Milton Keynes earlier this month.
But the pain of not knowing what happened to the teenager had been too much for her half-brother Haydon Croucher, who killed himself in November 2019. An inquest cited Leah's disappearance as a factor in the death of the 24-year-old, who had a history of mental illness.
Posting on social media, Jade said: "Let it be known to the whole wide world that the person responsible for your murder has Haydon's blood on their hands too.
"For now, all I can take comfort in is the thought that you two are together in heaven where one day I will be reunited with you both."
Paying tribute to her sister's "warmth, radiance and beautiful soul", Jade said she wanted her to know how tirelessly her family had worked to try to find her and hold on to the possibility of being reunited with her.
But, certain the teenager "wouldn't put us through the worry" of running away, she said they had always known something terrible had happened.
Leah left for work on 15 February 2019 but never arrived. CCTV showed her walking along Buzzacott Lane just after 8am and the last activity on her phone was just after 8.30am.
Repeated media appeals failed to uncover what had happened to her.
But earlier this month, police were called to an empty house on Loxbeare Drive and found human remains in the loft along with a rucksack and other items belonging to the teenager.
Officers later confirmed the remains were those of Leah but a post-mortem examination had been unable to establish the cause of death.
Jade said while "the agony and pain of wondering where you are is now over", the "torture is far from being done".
"When news was broken to us that your body was found in that house of horrors on a path on your route to work, our worlds crumbled," she added.
"How could anyone bring such a beautiful life to an end in such a tragic way?
"I honestly do not know how we will ever recover from this excruciating pain, the sheer horror of what we have been put through, and most importantly the heartbreak of losing you - especially like this. You have been stolen from us."
Police named convicted sex offender Neil Maxwell as the prime suspect for Leah's murder.
Detectives said he was the only person with keys to the Loxbeare Drive house at the time of her disappearance.
He took his own life in April 2019, after police had made 18 attempts to arrest him at various places around the country.
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