Found Deceased UK - Leah Croucher - Emerson Valley - Milton Keynes - #7

[bringmeacupoft]

That's very possible, although given how close to home she was would it be something she would do, especially given that this was apparently the first time she had done this?

I know I panic when I’m low in the house .

It is a good point though, I have a feeling unless her phone was with her belongings we’ll potentially not know. I think there are so many scenarios for this one. Even to the point how long had she had her phone/contract for? So she had never turned it off for a week? A month? A year?

This doesn’t particularly help but her parents haven’t hinted that her location would be something they would check either.

 

[Kinners_D]

I know I panic when I’m low in the house .

It is a good point though, I have a feeling unless her phone was with her belongings we’ll potentially not know. I think there are so many scenarios for this one. Even to the point how long had she had her phone/contract for? So she had never turned it off for a week? A month? A year?

This doesn’t particularly help but her parents haven’t hinted that her location would be something they would check either.

I agree totally, it's an odd statement to have been made with no context to it at all.

If no one has mentioned that they monitor her location, then the reason for turning it off may be accidental or completley irrelevant. As you say without some history or knowledge of her standard practices then there may well be no way of knowing what happened.

It would be a coincidence, in a sea of other coincidences but the location options on a Samsung phone can be disabled by swiping down and hitting one of the quick options, I have done it by accident several times (along with enabling hotspot, turning on NFC and toggling a multitude of other things on the quick tools menu) so hitting it accidentally is entirely possible.

I'm not sure if it was the default layout back then but on my phone location sits directly next to the option to show/hide secure folder which on Samsung phones is a secure/encrypted folder where you can hide other things on the phone you can hide images, videos, documents, messages and even whole apps in there. It would be possible that the intent was to hide this folder but fat fingering the wrong option - all my own thoughts and speculation obviously but if I were having a secret relationship I would think using the secure folder to hide this activity from anyone who may use my phone may be something I'd do.

 

[truthistheresomewher]

Regarding the locations thing. It was reported in a fair few articles that she was a frequent user of Snapchat. Snapchat when using the app would usually update your location on the Snapmap so all of your contacts would be able to see your location. She may or may not have had this featured always disabled anyway, ‘ghost mode’, but if not it could be why she turned location off.
So not necessarily was she worried someone was actively checking her locations via a find my phone or similar, but that if they happened to check Snapchat at that time they would see where she was and she didn’t want them to know.
Purely speculative and MOO of a possible reason/theory

 

[Kinners_D]

Regarding the locations thing. It was reported in a fair few articles that she was a frequent user of Snapchat. Snapchat when using the app would usually update your location on the Snapmap so all of your contacts would be able to see your location. She may or may not have had this featured always disabled anyway, ‘ghost mode’, but if not it could be why she turned location off.
So not necessarily was she worried someone was actively checking her locations via a find my phone or similar, but that if they happened to check Snapchat at that time they would see where she was and she didn’t want them to know.
Purely speculative and MOO of a possible reason/theory

The only thing that would give me pause on this theory is this is apparently the only time she turned it off... however as cupoft said, there is no real information to verify the accuracy of that statement.

 

[pedronz06]

I don't own a Samsung, but I did some testing with the location services and powering off the phone. For my phone, if it's setup (we don't know if hers has this functionality and was enabled) the location of the device is sent to my cell phone manufacturer when powering down the phone or battery is low, this will override the phones location settings if it's disabled. It's also very accurate to a few meters. One exception maybe they powered it off quickly and it is accuracy was less (more time, increased accuracy - depends on receiver quality too) Anyhow I am assuming that they got this information from Samsung and that's how they knew she was at furzton lake and not on Loxbeare drive, how else would they know?? Being connected to one tower won't give such specific information and googles location services was turned off. I'm guessing that location settings wouldn't be overridden by WiFi scanning either.

 

[Macarey1973]

Ladders are mostly used for outside maintenance, such as gutter clearing. There might have been a ladder kept in the garage, NM wouldn't necessarily have needed to bring one.

Most lofts have ladders built into the hatch - you would expect a property built in 2009 to have one built in? Perhaps they couldn’t access it the normal way for some reason.

 

[Macarey1973]

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me either. I keep getting a crazy strange thought that this property is used for some other purpose...not quite a 'safe house' but an organisation...charity, government,police connection... I'm just throwing this idea out there. Although it doesn't make much sense if the owners returned each summer.

Thoughts anyone?

I think the same. It’s like NM had a free reign to come and go as he pleased. What maintenance work was he actually doing and why? Who has told the owner what needs to be done if it’s been empty? NM could have just made it up as he went along in that scenario. The owner knows him or knows someone else that NM was involved with. And who took up the maintenance after he had died?

 

[Macarey1973]

I have another niggling thought : Would NB hand the key back before committing suicide. Id expect this to be the least of his worries and also it may mean Leah was discovered before he had chance to commit suicide. If not, as a home owner wouldn't you be concerned if a stranger had a key to your property and then becomes uncontactable : wouldnt you change the locks as a precaution?

Yes and surely the home owner would have got wind that he was a sexual offender post suicide? Everyone can do a Google search on a name… The owner knows more

 

[RusselSprout]

Yes and surely the home owner would have got wind that he was a sexual offender post suicide? Everyone can do a Google search on a name… The owner knows more

Did NMs suicide make the news at the time?

 

[bringmeacupoft]

Did NMs suicide make the news at the time?

Cannot find any trace of it in the news

 

[Petrocelli]

Was it ever established why Samsung were permitted to give out personal details about the location services anyway. She was an adult who was missing, and lots of people go missing and don’t want to be traced.

NM seems to have connections with a wide range of UK locations, the lakes, scotland, south coast, camp sites so could be responsible for all sorts of unsolved crimes not just in the MK vicinity. However It was just unlucky he wasn’t discovered much sooner as being the only key holder at that time makes him the only suspect and so not really covering his tracks.

 

[Macarey1973]

Did NMs suicide make the news at the time?

If the homeowner employed him, they must have wondered what had happened to him come April 2019. If he was employed by someone else at the time, then presumably they would have passed the news on, if not then there must be another person in the uk facilitating the arrangement and the keys etc, do a search of his name on Google at that point and his previous crimes come up, he was a wanted man. So his employer (if he had one) must have known the link between NM and that property and Leah going missing in the area. Something just isn’t right about it all.

 

[PotterHead]

If the homeowner employed him, they must have wondered what had happened to him come April 2019. If he was employed by someone else at the time, then presumably they would have passed the news on, if not then there must be another person in the uk facilitating the arrangement and the keys etc, do a search of his name on Google at that point and his previous crimes come up, he was a wanted man. So his employer (if he had one) must have known the link between NM and that property and Leah going missing in the area. Something just isn’t right about it all.

We can’t even be sure if he employer knew he had died. This is a transient workforce, chances are he was employed through a contracting company who are probably used to people not turning up for work and never hear from them again. So I personally doubt that someone in their HR department would have taken the trouble to Google anything about him or made any connection. But I do wonder who replaced him in the job and when they went to the property and why they didn’t notice (smell) anything… maybe they worked mostly outside or in the garden.

 

[DeadStick]

If the homeowner employed him, they must have wondered what had happened to him come April 2019. If he was employed by someone else at the time, then presumably they would have passed the news on, if not then there must be another person in the uk facilitating the arrangement and the keys etc, do a search of his name on Google at that point and his previous crimes come up, he was a wanted man. So his employer (if he had one) must have known the link between NM and that property and Leah going missing in the area. Something just isn’t right about it all.

It’s doesn’t add up does it and what are the odds of AJ another sex offender living there before NM moved himself in to carry out maintenance work. On the other hand it could just be a very nasty coincidence with AJ having lived there and maybe the owners/ property management company were simply neglectful in carrying out any checks before employing NM to carry out work. It seems incredibly sinister that the owners were staying in the house in the summer of 2019 when Leah’s body was upstairs.

 

[Sillybilly]

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[Officer Dibble]

It’s doesn’t add up does it and what are the odds of AJ another sex offender living there before NM moved himself in to carry out maintenance work. On the other hand it could just be a very nasty coincidence with AJ having lived there and maybe the owners/ property management company were simply neglectful in carrying out any checks before employing NM to carry out work. It seems incredibly sinister that the owners were staying in the house in the summer of 2019 when Leah’s body was upstairs.

Well if it was me and i was contacted to say a body had been found in my English summer house and I'd stayed there whilst the body was there, I'd be retching from my boots and be beyond horrified and sad. JMO MOO

 

[truthistheresomewher]

Well if it was me and i was contacted to say a body had been found in my English summer house and I'd stayed there whilst the body was there, I'd be retching from my boots and be beyond horrified and sad. JMO MOO

Right. I always wonder what happens to these types of homes where major crime scenes occur. You’d never want to be there, but who would want to buy it and how would you sell it?!

 

[PotterHead]

Right. I always wonder what happens to these types of homes where major crime scenes occur. You’d never want to be there, but who would want to buy it and how would you sell it?!

I know there are specialist cleaning companies and I hope those people get frequent counselling as it can’t be an easy job. I imagine the best thing to do for the owner is to just let time pass until it’s faded from the headlines but probably even then it would be at lower value. It’s very sad though when you think of all the collateral damage of a crime like this - Leah’s family, her brother’s life, Mr X and his family, <modsnip> the house owner, the cleaners who found her body… so many lives profoundly affected. I hope they all find peace.

 

[truthistheresomewher]

I know there are specialist cleaning companies and I hope those people get frequent counselling as it can’t be an easy job. I imagine the best thing to do for the owner is to just let time pass until it’s faded from the headlines but probably even then it would be at lower value. It’s very sad though when you think of all the collateral damage of a crime like this - Leah’s family, her brother’s life, Mr X and his family, <modsnip> the house owner, the cleaners who found her body… so many lives profoundly affected. I hope they all find peace.

Enormous community impact. We were discussing earlier again as I have 1 direct neighbour and 4 very close neighbours who are ‘summer homes’ if it had been here I couldn’t stay in my home I don’t think knowing what had been so close. Whilst not trying to degrade any form of victim impact indirectly nor minimise the truly horrific impact of the family directly affected it’s a big bang widely, not just monetary wise but mentally

 

[PotterHead]

Enormous community impact. We were discussing earlier again as I have 1 direct neighbour and 4 very close neighbours who are ‘summer homes’ if it had been here I couldn’t stay in my home I don’t think knowing what had been so close. Whilst not trying to degrade any form of victim impact indirectly nor minimise the truly horrific impact of the family directly affected it’s a big bang widely, not just monetary wise but mentally

Completely - I don’t think grief and impact need to be compared at all, and it doesn’t take anything away from the family’s trauma and our absolute empathy for them, by saying that other people have been impacted too in other ways. We know nothing about these poor people and what massive consequences this could have on them. What if they were selling the house to pay for medical treatment? What if the cleaner is struggling with mental health issues and this pushes them over the edge. Neither of these things are a fact or a rumour BTW, I’m just giving examples to illustrate my point that something like this could have a profound impact on many people’s lives - and acknowledging that doesn’t minimise the family’s suffering which must be beyond imaginable.