Andrea Gharsallah will mark her eighth Mother's Day on Sunday without knowing what happened to her daughter Georgina, who disappeared from their home in Worthing on 7 March 2018. The 30-year-old called out 'Bye mummy, love you' before leaving to get her phone fixed and never returned.
'Every day I think of her,' Andrea told The Independent. 'Because she's in the house, there are pictures everywhere. I feel close to her.' The 64-year-old said the family commemorates Georgina on special occasions, setting a place at Christmas and buying a cake for her birthday, to keep her memory alive.
Police arrested two men on suspicion of murder in the weeks after she vanished, but they were released without charge. Several potential sightings have not been confirmed. Detective Superintendent Andy Wolstenholme said extensive enquiries have been made, including visiting over 900 properties and examining nearly 400 exhibits.
To mark the eighth anniversary, Andrea planted roses called 'Georgia' and 'Child of Mine' in a section of her other daughter's allotment named 'Georgina's Secret Garden'. On Mother's Day, she plans to drive with her grandchildren to do something special, often releasing balloons on the beach with messages for Georgina.
Andrea recalled last Mother's Day when one grandson said, 'I don't think we're ever going to find Mummy,' and another said, 'I can't remember my mummy's voice.' She said: 'That was hard, it hit me quite hard.'
Missing People has launched a new SafeCall service to support the 72,000 children who go missing in the UK each year. Andrea said: 'I need to carry on until we find answers, if we ever find any.'
