3 months today Leah Croucher – my beautiful younger sister – went missing whilst on her way to work. She seemingly vanished with absolutely no trace.
She is a stunning girl, with a heart of gold. A family that love and adore her, friends who think the world of her and many many other people who’s lives she has touched in one way or another.
She has a bright future and at the age of only 19 a long future ahead of her at that. She is intelligent and sensible, kind and caring. She is essentially everything that you would want in a little sister. Everything that would make anyone proud to say she is their little sister!
I’ve always believed in time being a great healer but sadly on this occasion my belief in that has most certainly changed. As it stands at the moment the more time that passes the stronger my fears grow. With each day that passes my sadness deepens. My heart breaks to see the pain that my family are feeling and I know in my heart that Leah would never want to see her family in this much agony! So here I am again, 3 months later but still with the same questions that I had on day 1. Is my sister safe? What / Who stopped her from reaching work on 15th February? Where could she be?
I often dream that Leah has returned home. That she is fine and happy and has not come to any harm. When I dream this I wake up and I feel so positive, like nothing could ever take that positivity away but that feeling is always short lived.
Short lived because in three months there have been no confirmed sightings of Leah and no accurate leads on her whereabouts.
This is a time where I am surrounded by more love, kindness and compassion than I’ve ever had in my life yet I feel the most alone I have ever felt.
Alone because I don’t know a single person who has been through this and alone because I know how unlikely it is that I will ever know anyone who knows how this feels!
I have been told more times than I could count that I am “so strong” and I have to admit each time that is said it takes me by surprise. There are days where I barely want to get out of bed, there are days where I will cry all day, there are days that I feel angry and there are days where I feel afraid! I definitely do not feel strong! Of course these feelings describe the bad days (and trust me there have been plenty of them). There are also the days where I suppose you could say I’m stronger. The days that I slap on my smile and try to carry on with normality but the thought of Leah is always at the forefront of my mind. Never for a second going… and it won’t! Not until we have some news!
As the amount of shares drop, and the features on the local news channels dry up I ask you all to put yourselves in the unimaginable shoes of my family and I for just a second.
Imagine one day a person who you love unconditionally sets out for their normal day and does not return for months! You get no warning of this, no contact, no reassurance of their safety just emptiness.
I am sure that in imagining how you might feel you will realise how important it is to my family that we continue to raise awareness of Leah’s disappearance. We cannot let her be forgotten!
We need Leah home! We need peace of mind that she is safe! We want her to know she is loved by us all. I do not think that is too much to ask!
I thank you all so much for everything you have done for us all so far! It’s overwhelming to see so many people come together with one main hope.. the hope of bringing Leah home ❤️
Credit. https://www.facebook.com/jade.l.croucher
