Family’s fury as US ‘scammer’ will arrive in Britain next week in bid to ‘prove’ she is toddler who vanished 45 years ago
An American woman who claims British toddler Katrice Lee is missing will arrive in the UK next week to ‘prove’ her identity.
Heather McCord will land at London Gatwick Airport on Thursday and said she plans to take a DNA test.
Katrice disappeared on her second birthday from an armed forces supermarket in Paderborn, West Germany, in 1981.
His family accused McCord of being a fraud who wanted to make money and attention from their tragedy.
McCord, from New York, had previously started a GoFundMe page to raise money for a trip to England before it was shut down following complaints from Katrice’s loved ones.
Katrice’s sister Natasha Walker and her father Richard, 76, who served as an Army Sergeant Major in West Germany, believe McCord is the latest in a series of crooks trying to implicate them in the case.
Ms Walker, 51, told the Daily Mail: ‘It is extremely disturbing that anyone would think this is completely normal behaviour. Frankly, I worry about my family because no one really knows what he’s capable of. This is dangerous and puts my family at risk. This behavior is absolutely not right.’
McCord said he would be staying at a hotel near Gatwick, just 90 minutes’ drive from where Ms Walker and her mother Sharon live in Gosport, Hampshire.
Katrice (pictured) disappeared on her second birthday from an armed forces supermarket in Paderborn, West Germany, in 1981.
Heather McCord (pictured), from New York, had previously started a GoFundMe page to raise money for travel to the UK before it was shut down following complaints from Katrice’s loved ones.
Richard Lee holds a photo of his daughter Katrice. The toddler was shopping for snacks for her birthday party at a NAAFI supermarket with her mother Sharon and aunt Wendy.
Ms Walker said a member of the Searching for Katrice Lee Facebook page, which is now blocked from the group, tipped off McCord and may have given him their address.
He reported his concerns to the Royal Military Police, which was investigating the Katrice case.
McCord claims he was kidnapped as a child and says authorities prevented him from taking a DNA test in the United States.
He admitted to the Mail that he had made no preparations for his arrival in the UK but claimed he had no choice but to find out his true identity.
McCord claims to have a condition known as ‘exophoria’, which causes one eye to drift outwards, and says this confirms she is Katrice.
Katrice suffered from strabismus, an eye condition so serious it required two surgeries to correct.
McCord also claims to have a rash-like birthmark on her lower back, similar to Katrice’s.
The GoFundMe page appears to have raised $217 before it was removed from multiple platforms.
McCord claims she has a condition known as ‘exophoria’ which causes one eye to bulge outwards, and says this confirms she is Katrice
McCord claimed that all of the money was spent on a flight to England.
He said he bought the tickets in January and ‘just wanted to know who he was’.
This is not the first time Katrice’s family has been ‘devastated’ by people claiming to be the missing girl.
Ms Walker says the current allegations remind her of the time the family was tortured by Donna Wright of County Durham.
Wright harassed them with repeated phone calls in 2014 while he was serving a suspended sentence for the same crime.
Another woman, Heidi Robinson, pleaded guilty to malicious communications in 2019 and was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for two years with a mental health treatment order.
The Royal Military Police had previously admitted there were failings in its initial investigation into Katrice’s disappearance.
She had shopped for snacks for her birthday party at a NAAFI supermarket with her mother Sharon and aunt Wendy.
At the checkout, Sharon realized she had forgotten to buy chips for the event and went back down the hall to get them while Katrice stayed with Wendy. Katrice turned to run after her mother a moment later, and Wendy assumed she had caught up with her.
The little boy was never seen again.
The Royal Military Police did not question cashiers for six weeks and no national borders were closed; This left the family with a 45-year mystery that continues to this day.
