Leah Croucher's parents appeared on ITV's This Morning on Tuesday (October 13), where they reflected on the "horrific" ordeal they endured after their daughter's disappearance. In February 2019, John and Claire Croucher's lives were turned upside down when their 19-year-old daughter Leah disappeared on her way to work in Milton Keynes.
As the search stretched from months into years, the family endured unimaginable heartbreak. The case had a profound impact on the entire family, who also suffered the loss of Leah's brother, Haydon, during the search for Leah.
Documentary explores the family's story
Seen through the eyes of Leah's parents, a new documentary will now explore one of Britain's most high-profile missing person cases, from Leah's vanishing in 2019 to the devastating discovery of her body more than three years later. Over the last four years the filmmakers built a trusted relationship with Leah's family that began during her disappearance, securing exclusive access to tell their story for the first time.
John and Claire appeared on This Morning ahead of the documentary's premiere on U&W tonight, reports the Mirror.
Haydon's struggle and loss
During the conversation, John discussed his son Haydon, who struggled to cope following his sister's disappearance. Haydon was Leah's half-brother, who tragically ended his own life in November 2019 - nine months following Leah's disappearance.
On today's This Morning, Cat Deeley remarked: "The other person it hit really hard was Haydon. When all the investigations started happening, he handed out leaflets, he tried his very, very best, but it affected him mentally in the end, didn't it?"
John then described how devoted Haydon was to his sister, Leah. "He just couldn't cope. It destroyed him mentally, and the people played with him online. They tormented him, and it was just horrific to watch. There was no getting through to Haydon to try and calm him down," he said.
"He suffered from bipolar, which made him worse, [and] paranoia. He was getting so angry, and I had to step back for Claire's sake, for my own sake, to try and find Leah. It was like, 'Haydon, you're going to have to go and get help, [your] mum's going to have to help you.'"
He continued: "Because his mother's also a victim in all of this, which people forget. They all look at me and Claire, but Haydon has a mother. She's suffering. How do you console a mother who has to read this evil stuff online about her son."
Planning a princess funeral
Ben Shephard then remarked: "Tragically, it was too much for Haydon in the end as well, wasn't it? So, you lost Leah and you lost Haydon. At that stage, you still didn't know what had happened to Leah."
Discussing his daughter's funeral, John subsequently revealed: "We had months to plan Leah's funeral. If you lose a loved one, it's days to weeks. Ours was months because of forensic tests that had to be done on Leah. We couldn't dress Leah like you would dress your loved one. We're never going to be able to give her a wedding, we're never going to be able to do the normal things a family could do. So, I said to Claire, because Claire was so upset, 'We can't dress her, so let's dress her coffin. Let's make this the biggest thing we can ever do for her. Our princess. Let's give her a princess funeral.' And that's what we did."
Crowds gathered along the streets to pay their respects at Leah's funeral in 2023, which Claire described as "heartwarming". She went on to say: "It was crazy how many people came to pay their respects."
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10am, while The Search for Leah Croucher: A Parent's Nightmare will air on Tuesday (October 13) and Wednesday (October 14) at 9pm on U&W.
