Missing Leah Croucher, 20, was having affair with engaged man before disappearance
MISSING Leah Croucher was having an affair with an engaged man before her disappearance, her family said today.
Leah, 20, was last seen by her parents on Valentine's Day in Milton Keynes, before she vanished the following morning.
Now her mum Claire Croucher has broken her silence to talk about the relationship with the man - who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Claire said: "It started in the summer of last year.
"She was talking about this man all the time. It was X this and X that. It was obvious she had a soft spot for him.
"She'd go and see him in the evenings, paying £13 each way for a taxi.
'LIKE AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE'
"It just wasn't like Leah to do things like that - she'd always been such a home-loving person and didn't like going out much.
"Then we found out he was engaged and it sounded like it was an arranged marriage.
"I remember saying to Leah, 'Don't you go falling for him, he will never be yours.' I was under the impression that she'd stopped seeing him then."
Police have spoken to the man and say they have no suspicions about him because it is thought he has an alibi for the time that Leah vanished.
Her parents say Leah lied to them after claiming she was booking a hotel room at Jury's Inn, Central Milton Keynes, on February 3 for a night out with two female pals.
But she booked a room at a nearby Travelodge instead, her bank statement shows.
Her friends later confirmed they hadn't been with Leah that night, Claire said.
On Valentine's night, the night before Leah vanished, she left home between 6pm and 7.15pm, telling her mum she was seeing a friend.
I desperately want her to be alive but we are going through absolute hell
Leah's mum, Claire
But checks showed she never saw that friend and police have never established where she went or who she was with.
Claire said: "You'd think there would be evidence on her phone records of a secret relationship, but there is nothing.
"But then we know she always used Snapchat, and chats are wiped out on that. Or, of course, the man could have supplied her with another phone, a secret phone."
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Claire admits she fears Leah may now be dead.
She said: "I try not to think of the second one, but as time goes on it's there. I get bad days where it won't go away and I cry and cry.
"I desperately want her to be alive but we are going through absolute hell."
