On 7 March 2018, 30yr old Georgina Gharsallah left her home in Normandy Road, Worthing, West Sussex after telling her mother she had some things to do, including getting her phone fixed.

Georgina is 5ft 4in, with Arabian features, shoulder length dark hair, often worn in a top knot, with a Monroe-style piercing above her lip. She speaks Arabic among friends. When last seen, she was wearing a grey jacket with a fur-lined hood.

Her mother reported her missing on 17 March 2018 after failed attempts to contact her. She had delayed making contact with the police because Georgina had told her she was thinking of going to Brighton to visit friends. It was established the last corroborated sighting was her leaving the Clifton Food and Wine off licence store on Clifton Road, Worthing. This was captured on CCTV at 9.30am where she had two mobile phones in her hand. One was her own and the other was one her mother loaned her in case hers couldn’t be repaired. The shopkeeper was unable to help her, so he recommended she visit one of the dedicated mobile phone shops in town. She left the store and turned right towards town. 

A note from Andrea Frances (mother)

“We didn’t file a missing persons report initially for Georgina because as an adult, she is free to go where she likes. She had split up with her boyfriend at the beginning of March, so when she didn’t come home, we assumed she was likely with him patching up their relationship. It wasn’t until he phoned a week later, we became alarmed to realise she was not with him. We immediately began calling her mobile and contacted her friends. With all avenues extinguished, we contacted West Sussex Police. They published their first appeal two days later on 19 March 2018.

We provided the police with the phone numbers of her friends and acquaintances, assuming they would start making official enquiries. Weeks after, it took my daughter making a complaint for a search to be made on Georgina’s bank cards. When it was established there had been no activity, her case was passed to the Major Investigation Team (MIT). 

Once in the hands of MIT, we were told we would get a daily call with updates. This only lasted a week, thereafter we had to phone them. In the last three to four months, we have been made to feel a nuisance for trying to contact them. The only constructive thing they have done, was to have my daughters and myself into the station to make an emotional video appeal to Georgina on 9 April 2018.

Mine and her boyfriend’s homes were forensically searched, which I totally appreciate the necessity for elimination. The cold manner of being cross-examined with lack of compassion was not only stressful and upsetting, but it made me feel degraded.

We have sought and funded all of our own appeals , either on local radio stations, newspapers and journals, plus contacting every media possible including TV programmes such as Crimestoppers. Most of them didn’t even have the decency to respond, with the exception of BBC South East and Mark Williams-Thomas. In August, he arranged for us to appear on This Morning to make an appeal for Georgina. We regularly pay to boost posts on our Facebook page to raise awareness with a greater social reach.

With lack of progress and updates, I have made several complaints and was recently offered a meeting with the Chief of Sussex Police. I was flabbergasted to be told off for accusing them of not doing enough to find my daughter. I was told we had to be reasonable and only phone on a designated day, fortnightly. I was also told the two designated lady detectives were being removed as our point of contact, because they were getting stressed out at all my emails. He promised us a family liaison officer instead, so they could get on with the investigation, rather than spend time responding to our emails. 

As a family, we remain extremely disappointed in the lack of effort by Sussex Police and our expectations totally crushed. Notwithstanding this, the exhaustive list of mishandling, some of which include:

• Failure to secure CCTV from near Tesco based on a witness statement
• Failure to provide family liaison officers as promised in the beginning
• Lack of empathy and compassion shown to the family
• Failure to follow-up credible leads
• Failure to make contact with full list of friends and acquaintances
• Significant information dismissed too quickly
• Vital clues missed from the start

In our opinion, we feel Sussex Police should reinvestigate thoroughly from the start with a full timeline analysis. There are several discrepancies in witness statements that should be re-addressed for elimination purposes. We also need an explanation why our request for a reward to be offered has been ignored. Lack of communication has played a huge factor in our escalating stress levels. Training for dealing with distressed families is something I feel should be implemented. 

Georgina is my daughter and my daughters sister, we are desperate to find her. We will do anything possible, including overtime to help with funding. We love and miss her dearly and just need to know she is safe and well”.

If you see Georgina, please phone 999. If you have any information that could help the investigation, please contact West Sussex Police on 101 or email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk quoting reference 603 of 17/03. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or use their online reporting service.

Missing People:

https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/help-us-find/georgina-gharsallah-18-001441

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/FindGeorgina

#FindGeorgina #DamiensLaw