Please Come Home For Christmas

Someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK* – and all their families want, this festive season, is for them to walk through the door

- Frances Leate

Traditionally, Christmas is a time for togetherness, yet as you celebrate with lovedones, spare a thought for the UK families for whom this isn’t a reality.

A staggering 186,000 people are reported missing every year – and while most are found within 48 hours, some are never seen again. For the families left behind, the not-knowing is an unbearable torture. And on 25 December, there’ll be no laughter around the dinner table, just an empty place and unanswered questions.

But there is hope – last Christmas, 191 people that charity Missing People appealed for were found safe and well. But for families facing another year without their loved one, hope is all they have to cling to this Christmas.

‘I SPEND EVERY SPARE MOMENT SEARCHING FOR MY DAUGHTER’

Andrea Gharsallah, 56, lives in Worthing, West Sussex. Her daughter, Georgina, 30, has been missing since 7 March 2018.

Squeezing everyone into my flat at Christmas was chaotic, with four grownup daughters arguing how best to roast the potatoes, their partners in the living room and my two grandsons tearing around the place. Yet I’d give anything to have that again, because Christmas for my family will never be the same – not until Georgina comes home.