MISSING GIRL, 13, FOUND SAFE AFTER EIGHT-DAY SEARCH AS CCTV REVEALS HER FINAL KNOWN MOVEMENTS

A 13-year-old girl who disappeared from her family home in Bolton has been found safe and well after an eight-day search, police have confirmed.

Lillia was reported missing after leaving her family home in Bolton on Friday, September 11, 2026, prompting a major search across Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester Police spent days examining hours of CCTV footage and following reported sightings before identifying what became her final confirmed sighting at Manchester Piccadilly bus station.

On Saturday, September 19, police confirmed that Lillia had been found safe and was with officers in Manchester city centre. Her next of kin had been informed.

CCTV CAPTURED HER AT MANCHESTER BUS STATION

Before Lillia was found, detectives released CCTV footage showing her at Manchester Piccadilly bus station at 10.36am on Monday, September 14.

Police said the footage showed Lillia shortly after she had travelled into Manchester on a number 36 bus, having boarded the service in Salford.

The sighting became the latest confirmed indication of where she had been.

Officers appealed to anyone who had travelled on the same bus or had seen Lillia getting on or off the service to come forward with information.

Chief Superintendent Helen Critchley, of GMP’s Bolton district, said investigators were keeping an open mind about the possibility that Lillia could have travelled beyond Greater Manchester.

She urged anyone with information about the teenager’s movements to contact police.

HER MOVEMENTS WERE TRACED THROUGH SEVERAL SIGHTINGS

The investigation had already uncovered several sightings of Lillia during the days after she disappeared.

On Saturday, September 12, she was seen at the Trafford Centre at around 1.50pm, where police believed she boarded a bus heading towards Altrincham.

The following evening, at around 8.20pm on September 13, CCTV showed her at a McDonald’s restaurant on Market Street in the Piccadilly Gardens area of Manchester.

Investigators then identified the September 14 bus journey and her subsequent appearance at Piccadilly bus station.

Police appealed for members of the public who had been in Piccadilly Gardens around the time of the September 13 sighting to check any photographs or mobile phone footage that might have captured Lillia.

MUM MADE EMOTIONAL PLEA

As the search continued, Lillia’s mother, Jessica, made a direct appeal to her daughter through police.

“Lill, I love you so, so much,” she said.

“My heart is breaking without you here. I need to know you are safe. We all need you back home safe and well.”

Her appeal came as officers, CCTV specialists and partner agencies worked through footage and distributed hundreds of missing-person leaflets.

Police said the investigation had involved officers across Greater Manchester and that every possible line of inquiry was being explored.

FOUND SAFE AND WELL

After more than a week of uncertainty, GMP announced the breakthrough on September 19.

In a statement, the force said:

“We can confirm that she has been found safe and well in the city centre.”

Police said Lillia was with officers and that her next of kin had been informed.

The force thanked everyone who had shared the missing-person appeal and assisted with the search.

The discovery brought an end to the urgent public search for the teenager, which had lasted eight days.

Police said more information would be released in due course.

For Lillia’s family, the confirmation that she had been found safe and well brought the outcome they had been hoping for throughout the extensive search.