Bella May Culley, an 18-year-old from Billingham, Teesside, who was reported missing after a trip to Thailand, has been located in Georgia, Eastern Europe, where she is now in custody on suspicion of drug offenses.
Her disappearance sparked a frantic international search after she last contacted her family on Saturday. Bella was believed to be in the Pattaya region of Thailand when communication with her abruptly stopped, leaving her family deeply concerned.
Her mother, Lyanne Kennedy, raised the alarm after not hearing from her daughter since a message she received on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. In the message, Bella said she planned to FaceTime her mother later that day — a call that never came.
“She flew out to the Philippines after Easter with a friend and stayed there for about three weeks,” Lyanne explained. “She was posting loads of pictures, then she went to Thailand around May 3. That last message on Saturday is the last anyone heard from her.”
Authorities have since confirmed that Bella was not in Thailand, but instead in Georgia, where she was detained on suspicion of drug-related offenses. The circumstances of her travel from Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe remain unclear.
The family is now in contact with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) as they seek more information and support.
