A sex offender who killed himself while on-the-run from police is suspected of murdering teenager Leah Croucher.
This week, unidentified human remains and personal items belonging to the 19-year-old were found in the loft of a house in Milton Keynes.
Thames Valley Police said Neil Maxwell, 49, who was found dead two months after Miss Croucher's disappearance, had a history of offences against women.
It said he was the only person to have keys to the house when she vanished.
Det Ch Supt Ian Hunter said: "If Maxwell were alive today, we would be seeking his arrest in connection with this investigation, so he could be interviewed under caution to provide his account."
The teenager was last seen on CCTV in the Buckinghamshire city on Friday, 15 February 2019.
Police began searching the house on Loxbeare Drive in Furzton on Monday evening, following a tip-off phone call from a member of the public.
In the loft they discovered human remains and a rucksack containing personal items belonging to Miss Croucher.
A post-mortem examination is taking place on Friday and formal identification of the remains and forensic analysis of the property could "take some time", police said.
The property is less than half-a-mile (0.8km) from where Miss Croucher was last seen on Buzzacott Lane, Furzton, walking in the direction of Loxbeare Drive and Chaffron Way.
At a press conference on Friday, Det Ch Supt Hunter said: "Sadly, the call from the member of the public that we received on Monday was the first occasion that information was made available to enable the investigation team to provide any link between that address in Loxbeare Drive and Leah."
He confirmed that number two Loxbeare Drive, where the remains were discovered, was visited on at least two occasions during door-to-door inquiries in the search for the teenager, but there was no response.
"Therefore, we dropped a leaflet through the letterbox, requesting a call back if the occupants of the property had any information," he said.
Since Monday, the force said it discovered the house was owned by someone who lived overseas who rarely visited the UK and was not in the UK at the time Miss Croucher went missing. It said the house was unoccupied when officers attended.
The force said it also learned this week that during the time of the disappearance, Neil Maxwell was the only person to have keys to the property.
He had been employed by the home owner to carry out maintenance at the house. He was found dead on 20 April 2019, having taken his own life.
Mr Hunter said the person who contacted the force on Monday was doing some other work at the address and "informed us of some concerns that led to the call to police and further investigations".
He said the suspect - who had previous convictions for sexual offences against women - had keys to the home since November 2018 and was wanted in connection with a sexual assault in Newport Pagnell in the same month.
Officers first attempted to arrest him in connection with the offence on 30 November 2018, at an address in central Milton Keynes, but he was not there, he said.
Thames Valley Police shared his name with other forces on the Police National Computer in December 2018 and attempted to arrest him 18 times at addresses across the UK.
The force said it would keep "an open mind" as the investigation continued and would gather more evidence to establish what happened.
"This may or may not implicate or exonerate Maxwell or any other persons from the investigation," police said.
However, he was the only suspect at this stage, they added.
On Thursday evening, Miss Croucher's parents and her sister Jade visited the house and left flowers with a message, saying: "We will cherish your memories forever."
Leah Croucher: A timeline
- 14 February 2019: Leah Croucher is last seen by her parents at the family home in Quantock Crescent, Milton Keynes at 22:00 GMT
- 15 February 2019: CCTV footage shows her walking down Buzzacott Lane in Furzton at 08:16. She was thought to be going to her job at a finance company, but she never arrived
- April 2019: Thames Valley Police says three people had reported possible sightings of Miss Croucher near Furzton Lake between 09:30 and 11:15, on the day she went missing
- October 2019: A two-week search by Thames Valley Police of a lake and surrounding area at the Blue Lagoon nature reserve in Bletchley finds nothing
- 15 February 2021: On the second anniversary of her disappearance, police say there are "no significant leads" and the case is "bewildering and frustrating"
- 12 October 2022: Police open a murder investigation after unidentified human remains and a rucksack containing personal possessions belonging to Leah are found in the loft of a home on Loxbeare Drive in Furzton
- 14 October 2022: Neil Maxwell, a deceased sex offender, is named as the prime suspect in the case by police
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2022-10-14 15:43:32Z
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