“I will never give up.” Father searches for missing daughter for 40 years

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Two-year-old Catrice Lee disappeared from a British military supermarket in Germany 43 years ago. Since then, her father has never stopped looking for her.

Many parents are familiar with the feeling of not being able to find your child in a busy place.

For most, this horror, fortunately, passes quickly – but for Richard Lee it has been going on for 43 years.

“My whole world fell apart in an instant,” recalls Richard, a veteran of the British Army.

The events of November 28, 1981 affected every moment of his life.

It was it's Catrice's second birthday, and they've been buying teatime treats at a supermarket near Paderborn.

The family lost sight of her for a short time – and then the child simply disappeared.

Two-year-old Catrice Lee disappeared from a British military supermarket in Germany 43 years ago. Since then, her father has never stopped looking for her.

Many parents are familiar with the feeling of not being able to find your child in a busy place.

For most, this horror, fortunately, passes quickly – but for Richard Lee it has been going on for 43 years.

“My whole world fell apart in an instant,” recalls Richard, a veteran of the British Army.

The events of November 28, 1981 affected every moment his later life.

It was Catrice's second birthday and they were buying teatime treats at a supermarket near Paderborn.

The family lost sight of her for a short time – and then the child simply disappeared.

< img class="aligncenter" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ja-nikoli-ne-zdamsja-batko-40-rokiv-shukaye-zniklu-donku-25af4a0.webp" alt="“I we will never give up". A father has been looking for his missing daughter for 40 years" />

The former Naval, Army and Air Force Institute (NAAFI) supermarket is now an art gallery and home to a photography exhibition called Missing Katrice.

The family hopes the exhibition will help find new information about her disappearance.

“We've been let down, we've been abandoned, and now we're the only ones who are still looking for our daughter,” says Richard.

In 2020, the Royal Military Police decided to end active investigations.

The Katris family said the investigation was “inadequate and incompetent” from the start.

Border guards were not immediately notified of Katris' disappearance, no roadblocks were set up and no checks were made.

Key witnesses were not interviewed for decades, and the suspect's photo was not released for 36 years.

The Royal Military Police have since admitted mistakes in their investigation and apologized to the family.

These confessions did little to comfort Richard, who returned his army medals in protest at the way the case was being investigated.

Richard and Natasha visited an exhibition by artist Stu McKenzie, which the author says shows the deep emotions of the Katris case.

He says the exhibition aims to help understand “the profound loss, lingering trauma and unwavering hope that compels the family to continue to search for answers.

The family hope the exhibition will help rekindle the search for Catrice and raise local and national awareness of her disappearance.

At the same time, they feel alone in this fight.

The Royal Military Police have sent a VIP- invitation to the exhibition, but none of the officials came to it.

There were no politicians, policemen, or soldiers.

The Ministry of Defense expressed its condolences to the Katris family.

His spokesman said the Ministry of Defense's Major Crimes Unit had “taken the lead role in the investigation” and it would be “inappropriate” to comment on previous investigations.

Richard would have turned 75 this month and he says this may be his last visit to the site of Catrice's disappearance.

Although he may never come here again, he will never stop fighting to find his daughter.

< p>“Katris is the first thing I think about every morning when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to bed,” he says. – I will never give up”.

“Our family has one goal in life – to find Katris”.