‘My sister vanished from a supermarket on her second birthday and was never seen again’
Katrice Lee was two years old when she vanished from a German supermarket in 1981. Her sister tells Harriette Boucher how she remembers the day vividly and remains hopeful that she will eventually get answers
When a priest told seven-year-old Natasha Walker that if she prayed every night to God, he would bring her missing sister home, she did so for months.
“Trust me, you’re praying really bloody hard every night, but God never brought my sister home,” she told The Independent.
In 1981, the Lee family spent their daughter Katrice’s second birthday near a military base in Germany, where her father, Richard, from Hartlepool, was stationed.
Katrice was at a Naafi supermarket with her mother, Sharon, and aunt when she vanished, making it the second and last birthday her family would ever get to celebrate with her.
As The Independent has raised £165,000 to launch SafeCall – a free new service to help missing children find support and safety no matter what – and continues to raise more, we spoke to Ms Walker, who is still holding out hope that she will see her sister again.
Donate here or text SAFE to 70577 to give £10 to Missing People – enough for one child to get help.
On the day of Katrice’s disappearance, Ms Walker, who was seven at the time, stayed at home with her uncle while her sister, parents and aunt went to the supermarket.
At the checkout, her mother realised she had forgotten crisps for Katrice’s birthday, and told her aunt to watch the toddler while she grabbed them. Katrice then started following her mother.
Ms Walker said: “It was probably 30 seconds, and by the time it took them both to turn their heads, Katrice had vanished.”
Her mother began looking around the shop and calling for her daughter, but there was no sign of her anywhere.
Ms Walker’s first memory of her sister’s disappearance was her father coming home to say she was gone. She then remembers walking down the road to find her mother screaming at the top of her lungs. “I’ve never heard anything like it and I don’t ever want to hear it again,” she recalled.
“I just couldn’t comprehend it, because for me as a seven-year-old, if you lose a doll, it turns up.”
Ms Walker spent the next week living with her neighbours, while her family continued to search for her sister. She added: “I lost my whole family for one week. I got my parents back, and now, 44 years later, I’m still waiting to get my sister back.”
That week felt like years for Ms Walker. When she finally returned, she walked into a house of complete darkness and silence.
“That will haunt me,” she said. “I think that was the worst thing. We were always so happy; normally, when I came off the school bus, Katrice was there to greet me.”
The family said the Royal Military Police apologised to them in 2012 and admitted the previous investigations were flawed, and had pledged to reinvestigate the case.
“Police were adamant that Katrice had managed to get out of the door, fought her way through a very busy car park, went through some bushes and jumped into a river and drowned,” Ms Walker said.
As a result, she said, the town’s borders weren’t shut down for at least 48 hours. Officers didn’t speak to the shop staff, and people who said they had seen Katrice in the supermarket weren’t interviewed for years. The Independent has contacted the military police for comment.
More than four decades later, Katrice’s disappearance still has a grip on her family’s life. One woman has even been jailed more recently for harassing the family over Katrice’s disappearance, and another was sentenced for malicious communications after using social media to impersonate the missing toddler.
“My mum can still get quite anxious over me if I go away, even with my husband,” Ms Walker said.
When she got married in 2018, she had a red button from Katrice’s cardigan sewn onto her wedding dress, “so that although she wasn’t there with me in person, I felt like I had a piece of her close to my heart”.
“I’ve missed out on so much, I’ve missed out on talking about boyfriends or girlfriends… Even arguments, I wasn’t even experiencing that,” she said.
Ms Walker believes her sister was abducted, adding: “In an ideal world, what I would love to have happened is that she has led a really happy life… but I also know that might not necessarily be the case. We live in hope because if you don’t have that, you don’t really have anything. And we’re not ready to give up.”
Missing People’s family support worker Amy Walker said: “Katrice Lee was just two years old when she went missing, and decades later her family is still living with unanswered questions and deep loss.
“Time does not lessen the need for truth, nor does it diminish the pain of not knowing. We stand with Katrice’s family and will continue to support them for as long as they need – helping them seek information, advocate for change, and ensure this case is never forgotten. Katrice matters, and we will remain alongside her family for as long as it takes.”
Please donate now to The Independent and Missing People’s SafeCall campaign, which has raised £165,000 to create a free, nationwide service helping vulnerable children find safety and support.
For advice, support and options if you or someone you love goes missing, text or call the charity Missing People on 116 000. It’s free, confidential and non-judgemental. Or visit missingpeople.org.uk/get-help
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