Sister of girl, 2, who vanished on British Army base like The Missing reveals lifelong guilt of ‘resenting’ the toddler

AS Natasha Lee prepared for the happiest day of her life, she couldn't help feeling "resentful" that her younger sister was stealing the attention again.

But instead of Katrice causing a fuss at Natasha's wedding, her tormented family were focused on police searching a river in Germany for her body over 30 years after she disappeared.

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In 1981, the two-year-old vanished in a supermarket on an Army base in Paderborn, Germany, where she lived with her mum Sharon, dad Richard and Natasha.

Her disappearance had chilling similarities to The Missing - but unlike the BBC show, Katrice's story doesn't have a happy ending.

Natasha - aged seven when her sister disappeared - said: “Last year, I said I was doing nothing for Katrice and it would be all about me and my wedding.

“But then they dropped this bombshell they were searching the river for a body.

“It’s terrible to say but I did feel quite resentful. It was all going to be about me but was about Katrice again.”

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Though they have experienced both hope and utter despair trying to learn Katrice’s fate, the family have never wavered from the belief she was abducted by a family who couldn’t have children.

But the terror caused by Katrice’s disappearance has crept into every aspect of Natasha’s life.

She was “so proud” to be a big sister to the youngster, who with her adorable ringlets and cheeky smile charmed everyone even though she could sometimes be a “little nightmare”.

But instead of celebrating birthdays and family milestones with her little sister, Natasha has been forced to live a sheltered life as an only child.

This was no more apparent than last November when Natasha got married – with Katrice missing from her sister’s side as maid of honour.

Instead, boldly standing out against Natasha's stunning white wedding dress was a single red button from one of Katrice’s cardigans – the only item belonging to her sister she has left.

'EVERY PARENT'S WORST NIGHTMARE'

Natasha describes Katrice's disappearance as "every parent's worst nightmare" - her mum turned her back for 30 seconds and never saw her daughter again.

It was November 28, 1981 - Katrice's second birthday - and she was taken to the NAAFI store by Sharon, her aunt Wendy and dad Richard.

As Richard parked the car, Sharon and Wendy headed inside - the "cheeky" toddler refusing to go in a trolley and instead wanting to be carried.

But when they got to the checkout, Sharon suddenly remembered she needed crisps and ran off down an aisle.

She was unaware her youngest daughter had followed her and in the "matter of seconds" Katrice was alone, she vanished without a trace.

Find Every Child Week

EVERY two minutes a child is reported missing in the UK.

This means 80,000 kids vanish without a trace every year.

Children are more likely to be reported missing than adults – one in 200 goes missing each year, while one in 500 adults disappear.

Kids in care are at the highest risk of being reported missing – one in ten compared to one in 200.

The Sun Online has teamed up with as part of their Find Every Child Week campaign.

Each day this week, we will speak to a different family who have been affected by a child’s disappearance.

This marks International Missing Children’s Day on May 25.

If you are away from home or thinking of leaving, or if you have information about a missing person or a missing loved one, call the charity’s free and confidential 24/7 helpline on 116 000 or email [email protected]

Natasha, now aged 44 and living in Gosport, Hants, said: “My dad came home and told me they couldn’t find Katrice but I couldn’t comprehend it at the time.

“We went out in the car and I remember looking at my mum and she was just screaming and screaming and I realised then something was seriously wrong.

“I was just sat in the back of the car thinking, ‘Oh my God,’ as my mum let out this bloodcurdling scream. I’d never heard it before and never heard it since.”

All this week, The Sun Online has spoken to families who have experienced different feelings of grief, fear, desperation and hope as they try to discover what happened to their missing loved ones.

We have teamed up with charity Missing People ahead of International Missing Children's Day on May 25 as part of their Find Every Child campaign.

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Chilling echoes of TV's The Missing

THE disappearance of toddler Katrice Lee in 1981 has similarities to the story told in series two of the BBC drama The Missing.

Shown in late 2016, the eight-part series stars David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes as a couple whose daughter Alice vanishes from an British Army garrison in Eckhausen in Germany in 2003.

They work with French detective Julien Baptiste — played by Tchéky Karyo — to find the kidnapper after Alice reappears in 2014.

Katrice's story bears a cruel symmetry with TV series The Missing, which centres around the disappearance of a young girl from a British Army garrison in Germany.

But the youngster – or someone claiming to be her – returns ten years later giving the family closure.

Natasha said: "I didn't watch it because it was too close to home and I struggle with anything like that because it's all so real.

"That show had a Hollywood ending but 38 years later, we are still waiting for ours. "

Natasha and Katrice were both born in Germany as Richard - a Staff Sergeant of the King’s Royal Hussars - was posted there during the height of the Cold War.

The pained family now say the Royal Military Police wasted the “critical” first 24 hours of Katrice’s disappearance.

AGONY FOR FAMILY

Officers believed the tot had wandered off in her tiny red wellies, turquoise duffel coat and tartan dress and fallen in the nearby Lippe river – but a hunt proved fruitless.

Working under this assumption, they failed to inform border guards and statements from shopworkers and potential witnesses weren’t taken for six weeks.

It took 18 months for the disappearance to reach the British papers and information about an unusual eye condition Katrice had that could have identified her was not made public at the time.

As Natasha bluntly says, her family are still in this position nearly 40 years later “because of the police”.

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The case was reopened in 2000 and led to the arrest of a former soldier but he was released without charge and it was closed again after three years.

Last year, the Army dredged the river in Germany after a witness came forward saying he had seen a man at the NAAFI holding a child similar to Katrice.

He was spotted on a bridge over the water a day after she vanished.

But the search only unearthed bone fragments that later turned out not to be human.

For her family, the grisly discovery was bittersweet as they faced more years of torture not knowing whether she is alive or dead.

Natasha said: “Part of me wanted her to be there because then we’ll have an answer.

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“But if she had been there, she may have been raped and murdered and dumped. She would have been petrified.

“The perfect end for us would be that she lived a happy life and the worst case is that she’s dead – although at least then we would have a grave to grieve over.

“It’s a horrible Catch 22 to be in. We just want to know if she is dead or alive.”

Our campaign so far...

• • Dad of vanished teen sometimes 'envies parents of murdered kids'
  • Sister of boy, 3, who vanished 40 years ago hopes he was murdered
  • Time capsule room of missing boy who 'may have been killed by paedo' in 1988
  • Family of UK’s longest missing person beg her to get in touch before they die

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