Farnham; Missing Girl Found

23 September 2013, 12:06 | Updated: 23 September 2013, 12:12

A 14-year-old girl who went missing 11 days ago has turned up safe and well in north London.

Esme Smith disappeared on September 12 and was last seen by CCTV cameras at a London railway station later that day.

But now the daughter of a Nato commander, from Farnham, Surrey, has been found and is currently at a north London police station, according to a Surrey Police spokesman.

The spokesman said: "A call was made to Surrey Police by the Metropolitan Police around 9.40am today to say that the 14-year-old, who went missing on September 12, was at a north London police station.

"Her safe return is thought to be as a direct result of the media appeals, and the media and public are thanked for their assistance.''

Esme was last seen by friends after school in her home town of Farnham, Surrey.

She told them she was going to Woking 16 miles away and then on to a party.

But instead the schoolgirl, described as an "extrovert, vivacious, normal'' teenager, changed out of her school uniform and caught a train from Aldershot just after 4pm and arrived at London Waterloo about an hour later.

The pupil at All Hallows Catholic School in Farnham was caught by a CCTV camera as she walked down steps near Charing Cross station in London at about 5.30pm that day.

Her father Mark Smith, who works at Nato's Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway, said the family had been "worried sick'' by her disappearance.

Mr Smith has been decorated for service in Afghanistan, the Gulf War and Northern Ireland and he has been commander of medical planning at the Norwegian base since March last year.

More than 4,000 people had "liked'' a Facebook page called Find Esme Smith, dedicated to raising awareness of her disappearance and her sister Sian released a video appeal calling on her to return.