Georgina Gharsallah: Missing Worthing woman’s mum not giving up hope ahead of third anniversary of disappearance

The mother of missing Worthing woman Georgina Gharsallah has said it is getting harder to maintain hope as she nears the third anniversary of her daughter’s disappearance.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Mum-of-two Georgina was last seen on March 7, 2018, at the Clifton Food and Wine off-licence in Clifton Road.

Despite Sussex Police announcing it was treating the investigation as a homicide, Andrea has never given up hope of finding the 33-year-old alive.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Three years is a long time for somebody to go missing and not have any idea what happened,” she said.

Andrea Gharsallah marks the 2nd anniversary of her daughter Georgina's disappearance. Pic Steve Robards SR2002281 SUS-200228-143614001Andrea Gharsallah marks the 2nd anniversary of her daughter Georgina's disappearance. Pic Steve Robards SR2002281 SUS-200228-143614001
Andrea Gharsallah marks the 2nd anniversary of her daughter Georgina's disappearance. Pic Steve Robards SR2002281 SUS-200228-143614001

“It doesn’t get any easier. It probably gets a bit harder, because the longer it goes on you lose a bit of that hope.

“People do say to me ‘isn’t it about time you started moving on?’, but how can I move on when I have not had any answers?

“For us, the hope still goes on. I will never move on, I need answers. It’s living every day with that hope and living in this story – you are living in it all the time. It never goes from my mind.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Every day I’m thinking what can I do, I need to write something or contact somebody or do something to keep people reminded. It’s never-ending.”

SUS-190814-162418001SUS-190814-162418001
SUS-190814-162418001

On Sunday’s anniversary, Andrea will be hosting a Facebook Live from 6pm giving updates on the search.

Georgina’s sister will read a poem she’s written, she said, and there will be an update on a podcast series she has been working on with journalist Donal MacIntyre.

Focusing on the perceived failings in Sussex Police’s investigation, the podcast has been delayed due to Covid-19 but it is hoped it will be released by the end of June.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Andrea said she is also in talks with a TV company about producing a documentary on the investigation.

It is a struggle to find new ways to keep Georgina’s case in the public eye, Andrea said.

She has recently bought a star for her daughter in the Pheonix constellation, named the Georgina Gharsallah star.

“Stars aren’t just for people who are no longer here, they could be for anybody,” she said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I wanted to do something a little bit special. If by some miracle she does come back, she will see how much we’ve done for her to keep her memory out there and help keep looking for her.”

Andrea’s hopes were buoyed by a potential breakthrough in January after somebody claimed to be ‘100 per cent’ able to identify a woman pictured in CCTV with someone believed to be Georgina.

But after tracking her down, police have confirmed the woman and her family have insisted it is not her in the footage.

“It’s back to square one,” said Andrea..

Police are also carrying out forensic tests on human remains found in West Wittering and Chilgrove at the beginning of the year, but Andrea said she had been advised by officers they were unlikely to be Georgina’s.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After previously criticising the Force over its lack of communication, she commended them for proactively getting in touch about the discoveries.

Join Sunday’s Facebook Live at 6pm through here.

Support the fundraiser for Andrea’s search here.