6yo girl missing in London, Greenwich - has now been found (updated by MNHQ)

[Theremedy]

From the BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce58e7mjlxko

Mumsnet seems to have quite a large London population I thought it couldn’t hurt to spread the word. I can’t even imagine how scared a 6 year old would be out alone all night.

I‘m going to assume you’re female. It’s more difficult to do if you’re male.

I can't believe numerous people just ignored the poor little thing walking alone in her pyjamas either. I would have definitely asked if she was ok, or at least kept an eye on her and called the police. Poor love, I really hope she's ok somewhere.

or are you just trying to write this off as middle class panic with zero lived experience yourself

That one. Always that one.

If anybody is interested in how an estate goes downhill and how multiple deprivation works, Polly Toynbee wrote about the Clapham Park Estate very well, about 20 years ago, in a book called Hard Work.

Like everybody else she had too much faith in the magical powers of regeneration, though.

Was she "wandering alone" or was she playing on the grass outside her home?

Were there other adults sitting on the next patch of grass in the sun so that it was easy to presume she was with them?

I don't know, and neither does anyone here. Easy to get all high and mighty without the full facts.

I live in Greenwhich and that’s one place I wouldn’t even walk alone or ever be.

Poor little girl. That footage is so sad. I really hope she is found safe and well.

Why didn't you secure the house? You were irresponsible and very lucky nothing worse happened. We shouldn't hold back judgement just because there are other parents who have similarly failed to keep their children safe.

It's every parents responsibility to safeguard their child. That includes checking on your child regularly, putting in place safety measures to prevent them taking themselves off, and of course, noticing your child is missing far before 11 hours have elapsed.

This girl was neglected, clearly. Not even in daytime clothes at midday. And then no one gave two hoots to check her before 10.40pm. Very sad and I do 100% judge her parent/s.

So are the flats are by the river? Is that what I can see in the background

Only because a much larger percentage of men than women is likely to cause harm to a child. It's a statistical fact, not some made-up prejudice against men.

Agreed, I was thinking that myself.

That’s true but surely you’d step back to observe from afar and call the police?

The first time. If you saw the same child playing alone and unsupervised over and over, you intervened, you reported it and nothing happened...then what?

Most of the people passing by would have been neighbours.

We don't know what the scenario is. There are various possibilities.

Praying this little one is found safe

Call the police then!?

But walk by and do nothing? No. That's an excuse. That man walking past and whoever was driving that car had a responsibility to call the police and report a lone little child.

Yes the area runs alongside the Thames. I used to work there for a few years, it is more run down than other areas but was undergoing a regeneration project when I worked there 8 years ago.

Aside from from that I hope that little girl is found. To be seen at lunchtime with a bag and in pjs but not reported missing for hours is strange. Maybe the parents left her to go to work, as awful as it is many can't afford holiday clubs and do desperate things to pay the bills

That video is awful, why people didn’t stop it beyond me and don’t get me started on those who are meant to be caring for this poor girl. Horrific.

Poor little thing. I’d def keep an eye on her and ring the police.

I found a small boy (4ish) wandering around our hotel in Turkey this summer, crying. Turns out his mum had gone back to the room, leaving the boy with his dad by the pool, and the boy had tried to find his way back to their room and dad hadn’t noticed. I shudder when I think of all the pools he had walked past.

I live the other side of London, but this is awful. A 6 year old out in their own in PJs - even if she ‘ran away’ like some kids do the parent/carer would be on her heels pretty quickly. And then not raising an alarm for 10 hours, whoever was responsible for her In that time has not done her justice - parent, aunt, babysitter etc.

"Maybe the parents left her to go to work, as awful as it is many can't afford holiday clubs and do desperate things to pay the bills"

Both of them pulling a 12 hour shift and not once checking in on her? Give over 🙄

I can’t comprehend how she wasn’t reported missing until 10.40. I’m hoping that others’ theories on here are correct, that the parent was at work and left her home alone as they had no money for childcare and seemingly no other choice. Maybe they were doing a late shift, starting at midday and ending at 10ish…. I hope she’s found safe and well. 😢

It's such a sad case and of course until we know the full details, we will speculate and think all sorts.

On these kind of estates I wonder whether people are scared to try and findout why the little girl was their alone though? in case they get abused, beaten up. Its awful that people may have to worry about those thoughts rather than the safety and welfare of a young child. I'm glad I don't live on a large city council estate like that, full of drug users and all sorts. It must be a scary place to bring up children. Of course someone still could of called the police though?

Where she went missing from, Defence close, isn't the Thamesmead Estate.
It's the waterfront developed in the early 00s.

I think people aren’t stopping because in rougher areas (sorry to generalise) it’s not unusual to see young kids out playing themselves. It won’t have been a reason for pause for people.

All the posters comparing finding a kid wandering hotel corridors crying to passing a kid playing on a patch of grass on a busy estate are just demonstrating that they have zero idea what it's like living on those estates.

There will have been plenty other adults around, easy to assume she's with one of them and not an unusual sight.

A 4 year old crying alone in a corridor in a hotel in turkey is not something anyone would ignore.

A kid momentarily playing near flats and shops, seemingly calm and happy with other adults on the balconies and in the vicinity, a sight that is unfortunately normal there, you might not really realise anything is wrong.

Do you not have an area SMS system the police use? We do, I don’t understand how it works (even after it was explained to me), but something like there is the capability to push out messages to all phones covered by towers in an area, so it doesn’t go to individual numbers as such but a blanket ‘spam’ to every mobile towers pick up in those areas. It’s like an Amber Alert but via mobile and doesn’t have to relate to children only. So in this case an alert would come out stating girl 6yo (with description of appearance and clothes last seen in if known) and please call (linked number) immediately on sighting her. We get them for elderly, mentally ill or vulnerable people who go missing as well, if in an area of bushland with housing it asks people to go check yards or any potential hiding places etc, and advises if you should/shouldn’t approach but watch from distance until police arrive etc. I think it’s a good system.