Family of missing Katrice Lee return to Germany in bid to find out what happened to her
The family of a missing girl are in Germany - in the place where she disappeared - to mark what would have been her 45th birthday.
Katrice Lee was two when she vanished from the German army base in Paderborn where her father was stationed in November 1981.
Her disappearance remains one of the longest unresolved cases in the history of the Royal Military Police.
An exhibition of photos and evidence is being staged to try and jog people's memories in the hope of finally discovering what happened to her.
It is being held in the former NAAFI shopping centre in Schloss Neuhaus, where Katrice was last seen.
Katrice's father told our reporter, Rachel Bullock, that he dreams of one day hugging his daughter again
Katrice's father Richard Lee travelled from Hartlepool to return to the place for the first time in 43 years to see the exhibition, along with his daughter Natasha Walker.
He said: "I'm blown away. That's the only word I can put to it. I've always felt I would find her. My dream is that she comes over and hugs me.
"It takes you back all those years - it brought back so many memories. We were a unit of four people. When we left Germany, we left as three - minus one. So this for me is very poignant."
Katrice was with her mother and aunt buying food for her birthday tea when they say she vanished in a "split second".
Ms Walker said: "I was seven when my sister walked out the door. I'm 50 and I'm still waiting for her to come back. It's just the most devastating, heartbreaking thing to not have any answers and to not know where she is. If she's dead, we can bring her back and have a proper grave to grieve at."
She added: "Until I've got the last breath in my body I'm always going to fight to find out [what] happened to my sister. Katrice is somewhere out there and we just need to bring her home."
Because Katrice was on a British military base when she disappeared, the case came under the jurisdiction of the Royal Military Police and the German police were never involved.
They believed the toddler had wandered away to a nearby river before falling in and drowning. The possibility she was snatched was not investigated at the start.
Searches of the river found no traces of her, nor did they find any evidence that she fell in.
Her family said it took 24 hours before sniffer dogs were used in the search and it was six weeks before staff at the supermarket were interviewed.
Border control checkpoints were never alerted and Katrice's distinguishable eye condition was not made public at the time.
Mr Lee wants a public inquiry into what he sees as failures. He said: "Trust is lost. Now trust isn't given, it's to be earned. At this point in time they haven't earned my family's trust."
He added: "When I get comments saying 'why don't you give up and accept?' Why should I? I'm a father.
"I appeal to any parent out there - would you give up if it was your child? We live in hope."
The exhibition was organised by Stu Mackenzie, a former Royal Military Police officer turned journalist.
He lived in Paderborn when Katrice vanished because his father was in the Army and said he has never forgotten it.
He told ITV Tyne Tees: "I was nine years old when Katrice disappeared and the first thing I remember was the radio news bulletin and the description of Katrice wearing a turquoise duffel coat and red wellington boots. That's stayed with me ever since.
"As a military community it is remembered - we all talk about it."
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: "Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Katrice Lee's family. If anyone has any new information relating to the disappearance of Katrice, we would ask that they contact us on 0800 616 888.
“The Defence Serious Crime Unit became operational on 5th December 2022 and assumed primacy of the investigation into the disappearance of Katrice Lee. It would be inappropriate to comment on the investigations made by the Royal Military Police and the German police between 1981 and 2022.”
The exhibition opens to the public tomorrow (6 November) and will end on 28 November, which would have been Katrice’s 45th birthday.
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