HUNDREDS of residents gathered in Basingstoke on Tuesday morning to launch a search for a teenage girl who has been missing since last Wednesday, December 21.

Lyla-Jane, 13, of Simmons Walk in Basingstoke, was last seen at around 9pm near The Riverdene pub.

Having no information about the missing girl, more than 100 residents gathered near the pub in Windrush Close on Tuesday, December 27, to launch a search mission by knocking on doors and passing leaflets.

However, she has since been found. 

Lyla’s dad Nathan L thanked the people who gathered at Simmons Walk and said they are there to help police in their investigation.

“We are desperate to find her,” Nathan told the Gazette.

“It’s an urgent plea as it has been several days. She has not done this before and it is completely out of character, which rang the alarm bells on first day itself. She has not left the house even for one night before.

“We are here to help police. They have more facilities than we have, but feet on the ground can be a big push in mission to find her. All the people are here to help. They just want to get Lyla back home safe.”

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Jeremy Bailey, who is helping in organising the search mission, urged the residents to knock on doors that have cameras and leave the leaflets.

“We will go through different areas and we won’t leave any stones unturned. We are looking for houses that have Ring doorbells and ask them if it is possible to look at their CCTVs, while respecting their privacy.

“As you know these recordings are mostly saved for only seven days. So we want to look at them before they expire.”