Police diverted from Olympics in hunt for missing 12-year-old

More than 80 officers, including some redirected from Olympics duties, are involved in the hunt for missing Tia Sharp, the police revealed yesterday.

Officers have stressed the inquiry remains a missing persons investigation but there has been no sign of the 12-year-old since she was last seen at about noon on Friday.

Tia, who has never gone missing before, seemingly vanished without a trace after telling relatives she was going to the Whitgift Centre in Croydon.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She is thought to have been last seen at the house where her grandmother Christine Sharp, 46, lives with her partner Stuart Hazell, 37, in New Addington, south east London.

The last person to see the 12-year-old was thought to be her grandmother’s partner Stuart Hazell, to whom she shouted she would be “back by six”.

On Tuesday he was seen being led from Mrs Sharp’s house by two men in plain clothes, and was put into a car and driven away. Police said a man in his 30s was being interviewed as a witness but has not been arrested.

Metropolitan Police area commander Neil Basu, whose son once went missing for two hours in what he described as the “worst two hours” of his life, said: “I can’t imagine how it must feel for this family after five days.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Basu yesterday revealed Scotland Yard had received more than 300 calls and 60 reported sightings of Tia, including one person who came forward, saying they saw Tia leaving her grandmother’s house at about noon on Friday, the day she disappeared.

He added that could not be “absolutely sure” who the last person to see Tia on the estate was.

He stressed the investigation yesterday remained a missing persons inquiry, with no suspects, adding: “I am looking to find Tia safe and well.”

He said his own son had gone missing at a similar age, adding: “It was, still is, the worst two hours of my life.

“The family want Tia home, they miss her dreadfully.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said Olympics resources have been redirected to the search which yesterday involved more than 80 officers – 40 detectives and 40 specialist search officers.

“We have collected more than 800 hours so far of CCTV footage from buses, trams, and we have viewed more than 120 hours of that,” he said, adding that it was a 24/7 process and police will continue to collect more CCTV.

Searches have covered a 500m radius around Tia’s grandmother’s house, including woodland, garages, lock-ups and a local school, he said.

Mr Basu said he did not feel the schoolgirl would have left the area and the search was currently focused on the neighbourhood and Croydon, where Tia was heading to.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A German Shepherd police dog was taken into the terraced property earlier yesterday by a dog handler and Mr Basu said that was part of “specialist resources” being used to help find the youngster.

He thanked people from the Croydon and Mitcham areas, and praised those involved in the search for Tia for their “generosity, their energy and their commitment”.

The local community has rallied to help search for the missing 12-year-old, donning Find Tia T-shirts and handing out thousands of leaflets to passing drivers.

Hundreds have also search nearby fields, under the supervision of police.

Tia’s biological father Steven Carter, 30, said he believed she was still alive.

Related topics: