The family of Georgina Gharsallah, who has been missing since March 2018, have taken part in an MTV documentary in a desperate bid for information on her whereabouts.
On Wednesday morning, March 7th, Georgina was captured on CCTV entering a local convenience store in Worthing. It was the last time she was seen or heard from.
But how does a mother, a daughter, a sister and a friend go missing without a trace? Someone, somewhere must know what happened to her.
Most recently, police and Georgina's family have taken part in a documentary about her disappearance which aired on MTV on Wednesday (November 25).
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Andy Wolstenholme said:
"We continue to do what we can to keep Georgina in the thoughts and minds of the public.
"Since her disappearance, we have issued facts, photos and videos in the hope of triggering someone's memory. We have worked with her family to get their heartfelt appeals spread far and wide. We have explored ways we can reach out to different audiences and demographics.
"We know someone out there has the information we're looking for and as we have done since the day Georgina was last seen, we urge them to come forward - either to police or anonymously to Crimestoppers.
"Behind the scenes, we continue to actively investigate Georgina's disappearance and we will continue to follow all reasonable lines of enquiry that come into us."
The last confirmed sighting of Georgina was in Clifton Food and Wines in Clifton Road, Worthing. She was wearing a jacket with a faux fur collar and had her shoulder-length dark hair tied up. She also had a Monroe-style piercing above her lip, on the left side.
In August 2019, Georgina's disappearance was crimed as a homicide and Crimestoppers offered a £10,000 reward for any information which leads to the arrest and conviction of any person responsible for Georgina's death.
DCI Wolstenholme, of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, added:
"Sadly, I have had to consider the possibility that Georgina has come to harm at the hands of someone else.
"A number of vital enquiries to test 'proof of life' have been conducted but to date, none of these have been able to exclusively show that Georgina is alive.
"We know this has been incredibly difficult and upsetting for all of Georgina's loved ones to hear, but it doesn't mean we've given up on looking for her. We still have a dedicated team of officers who are committed to finding out what happened to Georgina and giving her family the answers they deserve."
Information can be passed to police online or by calling 101 quoting Operation Pavo. To contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, visit the website or call 0800 555 111
The above article was supplied by Sussex Police.
In response to the MTV documentary, Georgina Gharsallah's family have published this statement on their Facebook page:
Missing Person- Georgina Gharsallah:
We would like to clarify a few things mentioned in the documentary.
Georgina never displayed any signs to suggest she was involved in gangs or county lines. Her finances were also very limited and showed at no point any signs of sudden income from drugs or other criminal activity.
There have also been other unfounded rumours and facts from sightings across UK and further afield, but also closer to home. Rumours such as Georgina wanted to run away, claims of kidnapping and ransoms etc. There is no tangible evidence pertaining any of these claims.
We, as a family are not in denial about who Georgina was with all her flaws and vulnerabilities, as you can see from our interviews in this documentary. Georgina is so deeply loved by us all.
We want answers, the truth of what happened to our Georgina. Whatever that may be.
If we had any suspicions, then or now, that Georgina was involved in serious criminal activities in any way, we would have made the police aware from the start. Because the whole truth of the circumstances surrounding Georgina's disappearance is the key to finding out what happened.
We continue to strive to find the answers!
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Two weeks ago (beginning November 2021) this statement appeared on change.org where a petition currently stands to hold Sussex Police to account for the way they dealt with Georgina's investigation when she initially went missing. Just under five thousand people have signed the petition in a bid to get Sussex Police to answer questions relating to how they dealt with the case.
This is the wording on the petition:
My name is Andrea Gharsallah.
My daughter, Georgina Gharsallah, has been missing since 7th March 2018 and we are highly unsatisfied with the whole investigation by Sussex Police in to my daughter's missing case to date.
Sussex Police have evidently made disastrous decisions throughout this investigation which has hindered rather than helped the investigation into my daughter's disappearance.
We have asked Sussex Police many times to answer the following questions, which unfortunately have repeatedly been ignored. We demand answers to how exactly these so-called 'strategic decisions' were made and by whom.
- Why has Sussex Police limited their investigations to the Clifton Rd, Worthing area in Georgina's case for the first 18 months, when infact Sussex Police themselves have proven in August 2019 those were the wrong decisions, as they discovered new CCTV showing Georgina with an unknown female to have been in Worthing Town Centre on the afternoon of the day she disappeared ?
- What is being done by Sussex Police to find the unknown female in the CCTV footage with Georgina on the afternoon of the 7th March 2018?
- Why have we never seen evidence of CCTV of Georgina with the unknown female being subject to expert analysis by Sussex Police. Expert analysis may shed light on the identity of the female with Georgina in the CCTV?
- Why has Sussex Police refused several requests by our family throughout this investigation to carry out a reconstruction of Georgina's last movements? (Which, incidently, left us no choice but to carry out our own reconstruction in December 2019)
- Why has Sussex Police refused several requests by our family throughout this investigation to carry out a joined TV appeal for information relating to Georgina's disappearance?
- Why have Sussex Police always refused and never mobilised a search with Sussex Search & Rescue, Drones, Dog Unit and/or Coastguard agency regarding Georgina's case?
In September 2020 we met with a Review officer and Dectective Super Intendent Emma Heater of Sussex Police to discuss the findings from a review into the handling of Georgna's missing case by Sussex Police. The review stated that 27 failures were found in the investigation since Georgina disappared; with 13 failures relating to missed opportunities regarding CCTV footages.
We believe that the failures regarding CCTV in this case may have prevented a positive outcome relating to Georgina or, at the least, prevented some possible answers from coming to light.
We ask Sussex Police to arrange a joined media appeal with my family to take place as soon as possible in which the public and the media are able to publicly ask Sussex Police questions relating to their failures in this investigation.
Furthermore, we ask Sussex Police's investigation and conduct into my daughter Georgina Gharsallah's disappearance to be reviewed by an outside independent body.
We appeal to Priti Patel, Home Secretary & Member of Parliament UK, to intervene and call for a public enquiry into the failings by Sussex Police regarding the case of Missing Georgina Gharsallah.
In October of 2020, Jo Shiner of Sussex Police issued and apology to the family and admitted "some significant mistakes in the early part of the investigation in 2018". You can read the article here:
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