New search begins for a British toddler who disappeared 36 years ago

Military police searching for a British toddler who disappeared 36 years agoare beginning a major search of a riverbank in Germany.

Katrice Lee vanished from supermarket in Schloss Neuhaus, close to the military base where her father was stationed for the Army, on 28th November 1981. She was celebrating her 2nd birthday that day and had been shopping with her mother.

Despite a vast search undertaken at the time by the Royal Military Police, German police, British troops and volunteers, the trail went cold.

Her case was reopened in 2012 by the Royal Military Police who announced today it would be carrying out a dig on the banks of the the River Alme at Paderborn.

It followed a reanalysis of evidence gathered during the original investigation, which pinpointed the river as an area of interest.

Her family who live in Gosport still hope Katrice is still alive - now aged 38 - having been abducted and raised with little memory of her early years. They now face an agonising wait, with the search scheduled to last 5 weeks. Here's our report from Mary Stanley.