The mother of a missing 14-year-old girl who vanished outside Primark has revealed that her missing daughter planned to run away with a secret boyfriend she met on Snapchat.
Caitlin Wright disappeared from outside Primark at around 11.30am in Burton town centre on Sunday and remains missing.
Her mother, Claire Keight, 37, from Derbyshire, said she was shopping with her daughter when she “took £30 out in cash and just went off”. She later heard about her secret boyfriend from friends.
Ms Keight said: “We’d played Twister on Saturday night and she was fine and were talking about going shopping on Sunday, she was really excited.
“On Sunday morning we both got up early and she asked me to transfer her Christmas money of £37 into her account which I did.
“When we went into town she took £30 out in cash and just went off. All we know is she took a train to Birmingham. Her friends told us she’d met a boy of around the same age on Snapchat and was going to run away with him.
“She has £7 in her account and she’s in Birmingham. We have no idea where she is or who’s with. We don’t even know if she’s being held against her will. She suffers from anxiety and panic attacks.”
Ms Keight, who is married to James, 29, and lives with her 13-year-old son Tyler, also criticised the police’s handling of the case.
“Apparently the police said there was difficulty in getting the CCTV from Birmingham train station so we don’t know who she met,” she said.
“We are getting all these details drip fed from her friends or kids. I actually found out the name of the boy she was supposed to be meeting and called him. He was just a kid and confirmed he knew where she was but wouldn’t say if he had met her.
“Her friends said she was going to Birmingham to run away with this online boyfriend we knew nothing about. We’re all frantic and I’m just crying all the time. Caitlin has never done anything like this before. She’s a good kid and we had a really lovely Christmas. I just want her home safe.”
Caitlin was last spotted by Primark in Coopers Square shopping centre at around 11.30am.
A police spokesman said today: “Teenager Caitlin Wright is still missing this morning and we are releasing new photos of her as part of our appeal to find her.”
