Find Georgina Gharsallah

Some of you may know that we are currently working with a team to review the missing person case of 30-year-old Georgina Gharsallah. In this blog, I have a particular part of the enquiry that I want to discuss.

Case Overview

Mother of two, Georgina Gharsallah last spoke to her mum, Andrea at around 0745–0800, on Match 7th 2018 when she was sitting in the lounge of her mum's house doing her hair. Georgina told her mum that she planned to go to a mobile phone shop as her phone was not working, then visit the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Jobcentre, then meet up with her father Gassem Gharsallah. She did not follow through on any of her plans.

In fact, it seems that Georgina left her mother's house sometime early on March 7th 2018, and walked to a local convenience shop, Clifton Food & Wine. Having spoken to the shopkeeper for a few minutes, she was directed to a local mobile phone shop but she never made it there.

Georgina did not go home but her mum did not see it as particularly concerning as Georgina often spent time with her friends or with an ex-boyfriend. It actually took five days for Andrea and Georgina's sisters to begin to think something could be wrong.

Then Andrea received a call from Georgina's ex-boyfriend to say that very unusually he had not seen her for a few days. I should say here that although Georgina had split up with her boyfriend they still saw each other regularly, hence Andrea thought that was where her daughter was when she didn't come home.

Once Andrea realised that no one was hearing from Georgina she began to get concerned and she and her other daughters began contacting Georgina's friends from her social media and local hospitals. Georgina's sisters and mother all tried to send messages via messenger and call her but they got no response.

When their enquiries drew a blank they decided to contact Sussex Police. Ten days after Georgina was last seen by her family, the police were contacted and she was reported missing. The delay in filing a missing report has probably not helped the investigation, but that cannot be helped.

So to the reason for this particular article:

When Georgina Gharsallah was reported missing police obtained a CCTV image of her visiting a local shop, Clifton Food & Wine in Clifton Road, Worthing. It was clearly Georgina and she seemed in quite good spirits. The shopkeeper knew Georgina and told the police that she had asked him for help with her mobile telephone as it was not working and he directed her to a local mobile telephone repair shop in the town.

You can see the CCTV clip in full by clicking here

There is a small question about the correct timing of this image as according to evidence it has been said that Georgina visited the shop in the image at around 9.30 am but the CCTV capture time stamp says 10.49 am. I am going to follow the narrative that it was sometime between 9.30 am and 10.45 am, as there is no concrete evidence to confirm either time.

Mobile phone evidence

The relevance of Georgina's mobile phone in the story is quite important. On the morning that Andrea last saw her daughter, she had been getting ready to leave and found Georgina in the lounge, sitting on the floor doing her hair.

Georgina told her mum that her mobile phone was not working as it would not hold a charge. Andrea went to her room and found a spare phone handset that she thought her daughter could use, whilst she got hers fixed or replaced. Unfortunately, the sim card was a different size so she advised Georgina to get a replacement sim at a local shop.

Georgina took the sim card out of her own telephone in readiness for a replacement, so Andrea knew for the next few hours at least she would not be able to contact her daughter.

Andrea had also telephoned Georgina's father and asked him if he could purchase a cheap mobile telephone for their daughter as it seemed likely that the old phone was probably not going to be repairable. Georgina had plans to meet her father Gasem later that morning so he could give her the new phone then.

As far as Andrea was aware her daughter had said she planned to visit the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Jobcentre and meet her father as well as needing to go to either get a new sim card or get her mobile fixed at a phone shop.

More CCTV raises a question

Georgina did not make any of her planned appointments on March 7th 2018, including meeting with her father. Now, at first glance, it would seem that something bad must have happened soon after Georgina left Clifton Food & Wine but then the police came up with another CCTV image of what is believed to be Georgina but that was timed at 1600 hours (4 pm)

You can watch the CCTV video of the Sussex Police recording, via YouTube by clicking Here

The quality of the images is not the best and the faces are not seen but Andrea and her other daughters are convinced that the female on the left of the shot is Georgina. Andrea says that she knows her daughter, knows how she walks and therefore is absolutely certain that these images are of her missing daughter.

So here comes the question that needs answers;

I know that there is a slight dispute about the time that Georgina was seen on CCTV in Clifton Food & Wine shop but, even based on the later time, Georgina had from 10.49 am until 4 pm to do all the things that she had told her mum she intended to do, yet she did none of them.

The question is obvious and really important; "Where was Georgina Gharsallah between 10.49 am and 4 pm when the latter images were captured"? What kept her from seeing her father in order to collect a new mobile phone and what kept her from an appointment at the Jobcentre? Something important must have happened to cause her to make such a change to her plans at such short notice, do you know what that something was?

There are a number of other questions about this rather unusual disappearance that I will reach out for answers to at a later date. I just feel that if Georgina's movements and activities can be looked at between her visit to the local shop and 4 pm when what seems to be the last CCTV of her was captured we may be able to piece more of this confusing puzzle together.

Whatever else you take away from this article I ask you to remember one thing; Georgina is a mum to two children as well as a daughter and sister. The eldest of the two children has his 13th birthday this week, this is the fifth birthday that he has had without his mum and he and his brother are absolutely desperate to know where their mummy is.

Please cast your mind back, and reach out to family and friends who may have been in and around Worthing, Sussex, UK on that day (March 7th 2018). Did you know Georgina? Did you maybe speak to her in a shop or even on public transport? If you know anything at all, no matter how small or irrelevant you feel it could be please contact Sussex Police on 101 and quote Operation Pavo or call Crimestoppers in complete confidence on 0800 555 111.

I will be back soon with further investigations and more on this case. In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this case or any other, then you know I love to hear from you so get in touch.

Email me:

[email protected]

or contact a team member:

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Thank you for taking the time to read this article, let's hope we can get the answers that Georgina Gharsallah's family are so desperate for.