MISSING Belvedere teenager Rebecca Franklin is back home with her family.

Police and her parents had become increasingly concerned about the safety of the vulnerable 13-year-old after she went missing in Shooters Hill on New Year's Eve.

Her father Paul, 50, contacted News Shopper to break the good news.

He said: "Your stories about Rebecca motivated thousands of people. You have been brilliant."

He said Rebecca, a pupil at St Mary and St Joseph's RC School in Sidcup, had telephoned home last Wednesday.

"It took a few phonecalls but eventually we went over to the railway station at Mitchum in Surrey, to collect her.

"She is OK and she is now being looked after. There is a lot to sort out. I think she was just glad to get back home.

"Luckily, she was never in any serious danger."

January 27, 2003 18:30