UK Edition
Royal Military Police arrest man in connection with 1981 disappearance of toddler Katrice Lee
Police investigating the disappearance of toddler, Katrice Lee, from a British army base in Germany, almost 40-years ago, have arrested a man in Wiltshire.
Officers from the Royal Military Police made the arrest in the Moredon area of Swindon, where they have also been seen digging up a garden and searching a property.
Katrice was just two-years-old when she disappeared while out on a shopping trip with her mother in Paderborn, West Germany in 1981.
It is not clear whether the arrest came as a result of information received following the appeal.
An Army spokesman said: “We can confirm that an arrest was made on 23 September by the Royal Military Police in connection with the disappearance of Katrice Lee in 1981.
“As this is an ongoing investigation we cannot comment further at this stage.”
A Wiltshire Police spokesman confirmed that the Royal Military Police were leading the investigation.
She was last seen in a Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) shopping complex in Schloss Neuhaus, Paderborn, West Germany, near to where her parents, Sharon and Richard were living at the time.
When her mother turned round after paying for goods at the counter, Katrice had gone and has not been seen since.
International appeals failed to uncover any clues, but her family have never given up hope that one day Katrice might be found alive.
A fresh probe into the case was launched in 2012 after police admitted that mistakes were made in the investigation into her disappearance.
Two years ago a new witness came forward claiming to have seen a man carrying a small child in the area Katrice was taken from and putting her into a green saloon vehicle.