AN old photograph showing a figure in black which was found on a mobile phone could provide new clues to the mystery disappearance of teenager Leah Croucher.

Leah vanished on the way to work on February 15, 2019 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire when she was 19.

She had told her family the day before she was meeting a friend, but didn't do so.

The photo taken at 10.51am on the day Leah went missing shows a figure dressed in black in the background at Furzton Lake.

The figure appears to have a rucksack exactly like Leah's when she vanished.

Children are seen feeding ducks in the photo taken two-and-a-half hours after the last CCTV sighting of Leah that morning.

It was also more than two hours after her phone left the network in the area of the lake at 8.34am.

Police have confirmed they are now investigating the new image.

It comes after a satellite picture of a "girl in a red blanket" spotted on Google Earth appeared to show a girl resembling the teenager.

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The new photo was sent to the Facebook group called Leah Croucher Disappearance Community Investigation, who advised it should be passed to police.

The group had run an appeal for people to rack their brains and go through their phones if they were at Furzton Lake on the day Leah went missing.

A member of the public spotted the appeal and found the photo she had previously forgotten about on her phone.

She zoomed in to find the rucksack-carrying figure as well as other people nearby.

It follows two unconfirmed reports of a girl resembling Leah seen looking distressed and texting on a phone around the lake that morning.

The sightings came between 9.30am and 10.15am and then again at around 10.35am.

PHOTO INVESTIGATED

At one stage the girl was seen to be visibly angry, upset and crying, but by the final sighting she was in a calmer state and speaking to someone on her mobile phone.

Leah's parents have spoken out about how the teenager was in a secret relationship at the time she vanished.

It led them to criticise police for not focusing enough on any possible relationship.

The man, who can't be named for legal reasons, has since denied he was ever in a relationship with her.

We will be examining the photograph as part of our investigation to find Leah

Police say they spoke to him early in the investigation and have no reason to be suspicious of him.

The Leah community Facebook group, which has more than 5,000 members, has launched an appeal to find the other people in the photo.

They are urging the two people pictured nearby, one in a white coat and one in a pink coat, to come forward.

A spokesman for the group said: "The Facebook group was designed to help find Leah and we really hope this new information can help finally give needed answers to what happened.

LEAH MYSTERY

"A brave person from the public managed to find these on a phone and we think there may be more out there.

"Please search your social media and photos if you were in the area that day. Milton Keynes is amazing and the Crouchers deserve our help. Thank you."

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: “Thames Valley Police has received a photograph from a member of the public, reported to have been taken at Furzton Lake on the morning when Leah went missing, February 15, 2019.

"We will be examining the photograph as part of our investigation to find Leah."

The spokesman added : “The force would like to thank the pubic who are still coming forward with information to try and find Leah.

"Anyone with information can visit a police station, report online or call 101 quoting Operation Dawlish."

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