‘My daughter went to the shops and vanished. After seven years, I need answers’

Georgina Gharsallah's bank accounts and phone haven't been used since the morning she headed into Worthing town centre. The mystery haunts her mother, writes Holly Evans

- By Holly Evans

Straightening her hair and complaining about her broken phone charger, Andrea Gharshallah’s last morning with her daughter in March 2018 had been unremarkable.

A proud mother of two boys, a passionate cook of Sunday roasts and a lover of music, Georgina was surrounded by a close-knit family, which included her confidante mother and three sisters.

While her life in later years had been unpredictable and she had suffered with social anxiety and bulimia, the Gharshallah family had no inkling that once she walked out of her family home in Worthing, she would never be seen again.

Seven years and five months later, neither a police investigation nor the constant searches of her family have brought any clues.

“It’s a complete mystery,” Andrea told The Independent. “I was never aware of her having any feuds with anyone. She never mentioned anything going on, and if she had owed someone money, she would have asked me.”

At the time of her disappearance, Georgina, 30, had been unemployed and recently separated from her partner. A relationship that had been tumultuous had seen her return to live with her mother.

Despite this, she continued to visit him regularly, which is how her initial disappearance slipped through the net.

On Wednesday, 7 March, Georgina left home at 9.30am with a plan to fix her phone, visit the jobcentre and meet her father in Worthing town centre. The last confirmed sighting of Georgina shows her entering a corner shop on Clifton Road at 9.50am (Sussex Police)

The last official sighting of her is recorded on CCTV at Clifton Food and Wine shop at 9.50am, where she asked the shop manager for help with her phone. She did not keep the rest of her appointments for the day, her phone disconnected from the network, and her bank accounts have not been touched since.