Georgina Gharsallah: everything we know so far about her disappearance

Georgina Gharsallah has been missing for 18 months on Friday (September 7). Here is everything we know so far about her disappearance.
CCTV footage of Georgina at Clifton Food and Wine in Clifton Road, Worthing, on March 7CCTV footage of Georgina at Clifton Food and Wine in Clifton Road, Worthing, on March 7
CCTV footage of Georgina at Clifton Food and Wine in Clifton Road, Worthing, on March 7

+ Ten days before going missing, Georgina split up with her boyfriend and moved back in with her mother Andrea Gharsallah in her home in Normandy Road, Worthing, and said she wanted to move to Brighton.

+ On March 7, Georgina Gharsallah left her mother’s house. Andrea said on the morning she went missing, Georgina said her phone was not working and that she would go to the job centre – the last conversation she had with her mother.

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+ CCTV footage showed Georgina leaving the Clifton Food and Wine off licence store in Clifton Road, Worthing, at 9.30am.

CCTV footage of Georgina at Clifton Food and Wine in Clifton Road, Worthing, on March 7CCTV footage of Georgina at Clifton Food and Wine in Clifton Road, Worthing, on March 7
CCTV footage of Georgina at Clifton Food and Wine in Clifton Road, Worthing, on March 7

+ Officers more recently discovered CCTV footage of a woman that looked like Georgina with another woman carrying bags near Subway in Chapel Road, Worthing, at around 4pm.

+ For a few days, Andrea thought she was staying with friends, but then she called the police when Georgina did not reply to her messages. Investigations showed she never visited the job centre, and her phone had not been used since 3am on March 7.

+ Three weeks later, police discovered her bank cards had not been used either and began treating her case as suspicious. Andrea's home was searched by police, and officers also investigated Georgina’s ex-boyfriend and other contacts in her phone before clearing all of them of being involved.

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+ On April 20, 2018, a witness claimed they saw Georgina with two men in Tarring Road at the junction with Clifton Road, Worthing, between 7 and 8pm on the day she went missing. This account has now been discredited by the police.

Georgina GharsallahGeorgina Gharsallah
Georgina Gharsallah

+ Meanwhile, Andrea sent out missing posters and uploaded video appeals on Facebook, including one with over 10,000 views, and put up banners on Broadwater Bridge with her daughters Arij and Sara.

+ On October 29, to mark Georgina's 31st birthday, Sussex Police offered a £5,000 reward for the missing mother, and a candlelit vigil was held outside Worthing railway station.

+ To keep up the public profile of her daughter's disappearance, Andrea appeared on This Morning and the Crimewatch Roadshow in March this year.

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+ In the same month, a painting of Georgina featured in an art exhibition called Unmissable, organised by the Missing People charity and held in London, to raise awareness.

Andrea Gharsallah at a candlelit vigil outside Worthing railway stationAndrea Gharsallah at a candlelit vigil outside Worthing railway station
Andrea Gharsallah at a candlelit vigil outside Worthing railway station

+ Around the same time, Andrea started a petition to halt the redevelopment of Teville Gate, to rule out her daughter's remains being there.

+ In April, the Worthing Herald and Sussex Police received a ransom note from fraudsters claiming to have Georgina, and the reporter who received the email became involved in the police response.

+ On August 14, Sussex Police said they were now treating Georgina's disappearance as a homicide, but would continue to search for her.

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+ A fundraising page was set up to raise £20,000 for a reward, which received the support of local businesses.

The painting in the Unmissable exhibitionThe painting in the Unmissable exhibition
The painting in the Unmissable exhibition

+ On Friday, September 7 - the 18-month anniversary of Georgina's disappearance - Andrea and her friend Petra Edwards pitched up in South Street Square near the site of her CCTV sighting to give out missing person flyers.

If you have seen Georgina, call 999 quoting Operation Pavo.