A heartbroken father whose toddler daughter vanished in a suspected kidnapping 45 years ago says a woman is now impersonating his child as part of a fundraising scam. Richard Lee, 76, claims the shameless con artist set up donation pages and collected hundreds of dollars by pretending to be missing Katrice Lee.
Disappearance and ongoing search
Katrice disappeared on November 28, 1981, her second birthday, while looking for her mother in a shopping centre in Germany, where Richard was stationed with the British Army. Richard, a former sergeant major who served for 33 years, has vowed to solve the mystery and says he will continue searching until his dying day.
New scam emerges
Now, Richard, from Hartlepool, County Durham, says an American woman is claiming to be his lost daughter and set up a donation page in February. The woman, calling herself Heather McCord, claimed she needed money to travel to the UK for a DNA test to prove her identity. She raised $225 (£166) on GoFundMe, but Richard says the attempt bears all the hallmarks of a scam.
Richard said: "When I was informed about it I was livid. I'm fuming about it. My goal is to get answers where Katrice is. Their goal is purely to get money. It was a friend of another admin page who told my other daughter Natasha about this woman."
Details of the fraud
He explained: "She's in a circle of admin people who have missing children. She identified that this individual had set up a donation page. She was using our material, my interviews. She took chunks off YouTube, my interviews, and she put up a story line to say that basically she had to raise funds to get to the UK."
"She claimed she was wanting to reach us to do a DNA test. She started pulling on the heart and playing those strings on February 27. It had gone out in America and about $225 had been donated. By all accounts it's not the first family she's done this to. In my mind she's a career scammer."
Richard added: "Going off what I've been told she has a number of donation pages on the go at the same time. What she said was that she'd been to the authorities and they wouldn't help her. She claimed she was trafficked as a two-year-old. Red flags immediately. She said she'd been to the authorities and that they wouldn't help her, she was cagey. But why wouldn't they help?"
Frustration and determination
"The only thing that she would clarify is that she would fly to the UK and give DNA. Anyone reading that would think we've got to give this family resolution. I look at the story and pick up red flags straight away. All she had to do is go to the American military police and they would've contacted the UK military police. They would've Faxed over the DNA results and we'd know."
Richard expressed his anger: "For a person to go on and pretend to be something like that, it really makes me angry. This woman is trying to cash in on our tragedy and it shouldn't be allowed. It's scandalous to pretend to be such a thing. To make money from it is unbelievable."
He added: "We've had this one scammer but we get trolls, too. But trolls are different. We've had them DNA tested and told face to face that they aren't Katrice, but they still continue to claim to be Katrice."
Previous hoaxes
Over the years, Richard and his family have been subjected to trolls and harassment from several people falsely claiming to be Katrice. One woman was jailed in 2014, and another received a suspended prison sentence in 2019. The family has reported the latest incident to the UK Military Police, who are liaising with US authorities to trace the woman.
Richard, who remains determined to find answers about his daughter's disappearance, said: "I won't stop until I get the resolution of knowing what's happened. Love doesn't die and that's what it's all about. My main aim is exactly that."
The fraudulent GoFundMe page
The GoFundMe page reads: "It's been 44 years since the disappearance. All I want is to prove who I am and be reunited with my family…I want justice and there are many reasons for me to believe I am her. I also remember the day I was kidnapped and who did it. Any help would be very greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance."
