‘Every day I think of her’: Mother’s heartbreak of spending Mother’s Day without her missing daughter
S.Today marks Andrea Gharsallah’s eighth Mother’s Day, and she still doesn’t know what happened to her missing daughter.
Georgina Gharsallah, then 30, called out “bye mummy, I love you” and admitted she would see her mother later before leaving Andrea’s home in Worthing on March 7, 2018, and they have not seen each other since.
“I think about him every day,” Andrea said. Independent. “Because in that house, there are photographs everywhere. I feel close to him. There are things that I have always been close to.” [that remind me of her]. “I think about him every day.”
Andrea currently looks after Georgina’s two sons, aged 15 and 16.
The 64-year-old said the family, which includes her other three daughters, is always looking for new ways to remember Georgina, celebrate special occasions and raise awareness of her story.
“We would set a table for him at Christmas and buy him gifts,” he said. “We do things on his birthday; we get a cake and I like to take the kids somewhere, maybe go to the countryside for a special walk. Little things like that need to continue as if he’s still here.”
“Because I think if I hadn’t done that, it would have been like forgetting my mother, or forgetting my daughter, and accepting that she’s not coming back, or accepting that she’s not here anymore. Even though I feel like some harm may have come to her, I will never accept that.”
On the day Georgina disappeared, Andrea said her daughter told her she was going to the city to get her phone fixed and take care of other errands, but she never returned.
A police investigation was launched, but the only significant lead over the years was the arrest of two men on suspicion of murder in the weeks after Georgina’s disappearance. However, they were released pending trial.
According to Andrea, there have been several potential sightings over the years, but none have been confirmed.
To mark the eighth anniversary of Georgina’s disappearance last week, Andrea planted roses named “Georgia” and “My Child” with a wooden plaque in the plot her other daughter calls “Georgina’s Secret Garden.”
For Mother’s Day on Sunday, Andrea’s other daughters will probably visit her for tea and cake, and they will all bring something to enjoy, just as they did for Georgina there.
“You always know and feel like there’s a part of the family missing; you almost feel guilty for being with Georgina because she’s not there and you don’t know what happened to her or where she is,” Andrea said.
She plans to go somewhere to do “something special” with her grandchildren. Often on Mother’s Day, they leave balloons on the beach and say some words to Georgina. “It’s sad, but at the same time, I think I’m keeping the bond with my mom for them,” she said.
Andrea remembered one of her grandchildren telling her last Mother’s Day: “I don’t think we’ll ever find the mummy.”
he said Independent: “It was very difficult, it touched me greatly when he said that.
“And a few years ago the other one said, ‘I can’t remember my mother’s voice,’ and that really hit me hard. I said, ‘Try to think of specific memories,’ and he said, ‘I can’t.'”
Sussex Police have been contacted for comment.
Families are taking part in the Light the Path walk for charity Missing People to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday. Sponsored walks can take place any time in March to help raise awareness and support for missing people and those who miss them.
Missing People has launched its new SafeCall service, a national lifeline designed to support the 72,000 children in the UK who go missing each year. Independent It reached its fundraising target of £165,000 in January, enabling the launch of a free, confidential and 24-hour service.
Andrea said: “When you look back and think, where did eight years go? I’ve been doing this for eight years, trying to keep his memory and his story alive.”
“It’s really important for me to keep doing this… It takes over your life and becomes your life. That’s the main priority in your life: finding answers and raising awareness. You feel like you don’t have a life outside of this anymore. I can’t stop – if we find an answer, I have to keep going until we find it.”
Detective Superintendent Andy Wolstenholme said: “We still desperately want to get to the truth about what happened to Georgina and have carried out extensive investigations over the years, including visiting more than 900 properties in Worthing and beyond, viewing almost 400 exhibitions and speaking to more than 2,000 members of the public. “We will continue to investigate valid lines of inquiry.
“In August 2019, I recorded Georgina’s disappearance as a homicide to reflect the absence of any contact with any of her family or friends or any trace of activity we would expect to find in the ordinary course of a person’s life. Unfortunately, we have to consider the possibility that Georgina may have come to harm at the hands of someone else.”
“I share Georgina’s family’s disappointment that, despite extensive investigations, we do not know what happened to her on that day in 2018.”
A £20,000 reward will be offered to Crimestoppers for information that helps Georgina’s case continue. They can be contacted online or on 0800 555 111, or the police can be contacted online or on 101 quoting Operation Pavo.
Please donate now To the Independent and Lost People Safe Search Campaign to raise £165,000 to create a free nationwide service to help vulnerable children find safety and support
If you or a loved one goes missing, get in touch for advice, support and options safecall.org.uk
