Missing Katrice Lee's story now back in the headlines, says ex-soldier father

An exhibition marking 43 years since two-year-old Katrice Lee went missing in Germany will help "put her story back in the headlines", according to her former soldier father.

Richard Lee said the exhibition near the NAAFI complex where she was last seen means the world to the family, although revisiting the scene was painful.

"Every time that we revisit the scene it opens the wound again and it's like throwing salt into a wound," he said.

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On 28 November 1981, she disappeared from a shopping centre near Paderborn – and her family have been looking for her ever since.

The Lee family lived in Schloß Neuhaus, while Katrice's father served as a sergeant in 15th/19th King's Royal Hussars in Paderborn.

Stu McKenzie, a British Army veteran turned BBC cameraman and now a photographer, grew up nearby at the time, and the story of Katrice's disappearance has haunted him ever since.

He said: "I was nine, living nearby, when Katrice vanished and like all families back then the shockwaves just ran through the community. 

"We remember it clear as day. I grew up with two younger sisters and we always talked about Katrice." 

After leaving the BBC and with Katrice’s disappearance always in his thoughts, he began a distinctive photographic project with the support of the Lee family.

To mark 43 years since the toddler's disappearance, Mr McKenzie is hosting "Missing Katrice" – a photographic exhibition held in the former NAAFI shopping centre turned art gallery – between 6 and 28 November, Katrice's 45th birthday.

The exhibition explores the profound emotions surrounding Katrice's case, offering insight into the deep loss, ongoing trauma and unyielding hope that continues to shape her family's search for answers.

Natasha Walker, Katrice's sister, attended the exhibition with her father. 

She said: "This is all about the hope we have and the determination that we have to try and find Katrice.

"I just don't ever want Katrice to be forgotten. It feels like it has been like that and I know local people have never forgotten about what happened to Katrice but we are Katrice's voice now."