I want answers: Father of missing Katrice Lee to hand back military medals in protest over case

The father of a toddler who disappeared from a forces' supermarket in Germany in 1981 is to hand his service medals back in protest over the handling of the case.

Katrice Lee vanished from a crowded Naafi supermarket in the Schloss Neuhaus district of Paderborn on her second birthday 42 years ago on 28 November 1981.

Her father, former Warrant Officer Richard Lee, plans to march on Downing Street next year with a group of fellow veterans and return his service medals as he demands answers over her disappearance.

Mr Lee, who served with the 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars, told Forces News: "My medals mean nothing to me. My daughter means everything.

"I'm always asked 'how do I maintain hope?' and the response to that is it maintains me. I have another daughter out there. Katrice Lee is her name and I want answers."

Mr Lee believes investigations into Katrice's disappearance were poorly conducted.

"Why were statements not taken from day one?" he said.

"The Royal Military Police could have kept my daughter's case in the papers, in the press and they would have been getting things to follow."

The Royal Military Police has since acknowledged initial mistakes and apologised.

In May 2022, Mr Lee briefly met Boris Johnson while he was still prime minister to discuss his missing daughter.

"The last words Boris Johnson said to me was 'right, I’ve taken on board your points and I will be in touch'."

But Mr Lee said nobody from the Government has contacted him since.

The former soldier says he won't stop looking for answers over Katrice's disappearance.

"I am saddened that I haven't got answers, but I will continue to fight to get answers on my daughter's case and I would put out there that what father, in my situation, would not be doing the same?"