The father of a little girl who disappeared more than 40 years ago has spoken of his enduring hope that she is still alive. Katrice Lee vanished on her second birthday in November 1981 from a supermarket near Paderborn, Germany, where her father was serving in the British Army.
A Father's Unwavering Determination
Richard Lee, 76, is fighting to have her name added to an Interpol international database of missing children, so she stands alongside tragic cases such as Ben Needham and Madeleine McCann. Her name is still not included. Richard spoke out after an American woman claiming to be Katrice set up an online fundraising page. She said she needed money to travel to the UK for a DNA test to prove her identity, but authorities are not taking her claim seriously.
Mr Lee, a former warrant officer, served in the Army for more than 30 years, including a stint in the 15/19 Royal King's Hussars in the former West Germany. Katrice and her family were living at the British military base when her mother, Sharon, and auntie took her on a routine trip to the local NAAFI store. Sharon forgot to pick up crisps, so she dashed back to get some, leaving Katrice in the care of her aunt Wendy, or so she thought. In the few minutes it took her to return, Katrice was gone. Each adult thought the little girl was with the other.
Failures in the Initial Investigation
The Royal Military Police (RMP) thought Katrice had wandered off and drowned in a nearby river. No body was ever found. By the time officers realised she could have been abducted, as her family always believed, it was too late. Witness statements were not taken for weeks, and in some cases, years; roads were not closed, and Katrice's description had not been circulated. He and his family believe that she was taken and that the Army, Royal Military Police and successive governments failed them.
"It has been almost 45 years, but I can still remember the day she went missing as if it were yesterday," said Richard, of Hartlepool, Co Durham. "It was a Saturday, overcast, and that fine rain that does not get you wet until you brush it off, it was that kind of day. There was a river near the camp and I walked its entire length trying to find her. It went all the way to a nearby town and there were storm drains under the motorway to protect the concrete bridges. The first one was about one and a half miles away under Route 33 and there were dead sheep and a dead cat. But there was no sign of Katrice. I think that the RMP became fixated on the idea that Katrice had fallen in the river and drowned, though they never actually said it. I don't think I would have been treated the same in civilian life."
Stories That Give Hope
Two recent stories have given Richard 'light at the end of a dark tunnel'. Susan Gervaise, 57, disappeared in 1969 when a traveller family offered to take her from her home in Yorkshire to Disney World in Florida with their own children. Instead she was taken to Canada, Australia and New Zealand by the couple, who told her she had been disowned by her family. She only discovered the truth years later. After appealing on Facebook, she managed to track down her real siblings in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. In the US, Melissa Highsmith was abducted from her Fort Worth home by a babysitter in 1971 when she was just 22 months old. She was also reunited with her family in 2022, more than 50 years after she disappeared.
Richard added: "I know some people think that I should give up, they don't know why I bother. They are either not good parents, or not parents at all. Those cases make my life a bit brighter."
Support from the Victims' Minister
Victims' Minister Alex Davies-Jones has taken up Katrice's case. Richard met her in March 2025 and told her about the distress caused by having to review Katrice's case every time he reports a troll or scammer. The latest case has emerged in America. A woman claims she was trafficked as a child and that she is Katrice. Richard added: "My end goal is to get my daughter back and their end goal is to get as much money as they can. All the information she has, including details on Katrice's birthmarks, could come from internet searches and YouTube." He described it as the latest bitter blow from internet scammers and trolls, adding: "I have been asked 'How do you keep going?' And I say, if you have children, do you love them? Love doesn't die; people die, but your love for your child never dies. It is the only way that I can answer that question. I sit and cry at night. I come from an age where men never cried in public. But at night I sit in my chair and ball my eyes out."
He feels that the RMP 'disengaged' from the public regarding Katrice's case 26 years ago. As a result, he handed back his Northern Ireland service medal and another medal awarded for 30 years of service and good conduct three years ago. But he now has the victims' minister at his side in a bid to get his daughter's case on the Interpol database for missing children. "The RMP said they were still pushing out information about Katrice but I knew that was a lie," he said. "Now we have raised her case to put her on the database with the likes of Ben Needham and Madeleine McCann."
A Lasting Tribute and Ongoing Fight
Two years ago, he travelled from the UK with his other daughter, Natasha, 52, from Gosport, Hants., to mark Katrice's 45th birthday in the exact spot where she was last seen alive. A photographic exhibition called 'Missing Katrice' was taking place at the site, as the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) supermarket is now an art gallery. Her loved ones hope the exhibition could prompt new information about her disappearance. Katrice's mother Sharon and Richard split up in 1989. The Royal Military Police admitted failures and apologised to the family. The MoD Serious Crime Unit has 'assumed primacy of the investigation'. A spokesman said commenting on previous probes would be 'inappropriate.'
Richard may never visit Germany again, but he will never stop fighting to find his daughter. He has a 'sixth sense' that she is still alive. He added: "It is not a desire, it is just something telling me that she is there, that she is out there. It is neither an instinct nor a desire. I can't explain it, but for me the light has never gone out. My faith in getting answers has never waned. I am her voice, and I will continue to fight for her until I can fight no more. Every morning when I get up, Katrice is the first thing on my mind, and she's the last thing when I go to bed. I will never, ever give up. As a family we have one aim in our life and that is to find Katrice."
