The family of a 16-year-old girl who went missing almost three weeks ago have issued a moving plea for her to get in touch with them.
Jessica, from Denton, was last seen on Piccadilly Gardens on the evening of Thursday July 16. CCTV images showed her getting off a bus there at around 8:25pm, which she is believed to have boarded in the Denton area earlier the same day.
She had visited Granada Park on Thornley Lane in Denton with her cousin earlier in the day before boarding the bus in the Windsor Road area.
Aunt's desperate appeal
Jessica's auntie Emma Hirst told the Manchester Evening News today (August 3) that Jess has not been seen or heard from since.
Police previously disclosed that Jessica had no access to a phone or money, but she is believed to know some family members' mobile numbers off by heart.
"Come home, please," was her auntie's simple plea. "We love you very much. I do not want to say all the cliches but I don't understand why she has run.
"What is she running from? She could have spoken to me about anything. I'm very open with her and she is with me. I think she was lost in her thoughts.
"I want her to know, do not worry about a thing. It is OK. Come home, pick up the phone, call someone, if you are in trouble, try and get help."
Description and last sighting
Jess is around 5ft5 in height with an average build, pale/olive skin tone, and light brown hair past her shoulders, with the top layers dyed baby pink. She was last seen wearing black pants, a black zip-up top and khaki-coloured sandals.
Emma said that Jess had come to live with her recently. "I was happy to have her," Emma said. "It had been really nice, we were celebrating her 16th birthday, she'd been going to college and keeping up with her routine.
"No-one was annoyed with her, telling her off, we were just trying to keep positive. On the day she went missing I'd made her her favourite meal and taken her to the shop."
On the evening of the 16th Jess went to Granada Park with her cousin, around a mile away from the family home. "I dropped them off, and 45 minutes later her cousin came home on his own," Emma said. "I drove to the park to look for her but she had gone."
Police investigation ongoing
Despite extensive enquiries by Greater Manchester Police and widely shared appeals, Jess has not been in contact since. Officers have managed to capture Jess walking from Piccadilly Gardens to Market Street on CCTV, but no further.
Emma said police were going through more CCTV and body-worn footage to try and trace Jess. "I do not know what is going on in her head," she reflected.
"She had a really good sense of humour but she was a little bit in her own world, in her room, stuck in her shell a little bit. I tried to not encroach on that but did some things with her like baking or going out shopping.
"She has a good heart, she is fun, she's very intelligent and loves singing and music. I'm worried for her safety, thinking, where is she?
"But I don't have a clue where she could be. I don't know who she knows or who her friends are. We've been crying and losing sleep over it."
A GMP spokesperson said previously: "We are desperately doing everything we can to locate Jessica (16) who has been missing from Tameside since Thursday, July 16 2026.
"She was last seen getting off a bus at Piccadilly Gardens at around 8.25pm on July 16, 2026, having travelled from the Windsor Road area of Denton.
"We and her family are incredibly concerned about her and want to make sure she is safe and well. If you are out and about, please keep your eyes peeled for Jessica, and any information anyone has about her whereabouts or saw her on the bus that evening, should contact police on 0161 856 9325 quoting reference number MSP/06GG/0001262/26."
