An Australian waitress who vanished from a south London backpacking hostel two weeks ago – before sending friends a series of ‘out of character’ text messages when they asked where she was, has been found safe and well.
Jessica Parkinson, 29, was first reported missing by her father on Sunday, December 8, after failing to make contact with relatives on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Greenwich MPS confirmed this afternoon she had been found safe and well.
A spokesperson said: ‘Following a number of enquiries and support from Sussex Police, Jessica Parkinson has now been found safe and well. Thank you to everyone who helped with the search.’
Police have also urged members of the public to be aware of a ‘bitcoin donation link’ relating to the appeal to find Ms Parkinson.
They added: ‘We urge you not to donate or continue forwarding the link unless you can confirm it is official.’
On Wednesday, December 11, Ms Parkinson had failed to turn up for a 4pm shift at Texas Joes, the barbecue restaurant where she has worked for the last year.
When managers texted to ask where she was, she claimed to have got her start time wrong – and promised to be ‘right there’ by 5pm.
But she failed to show up as promised – and hasn’t been heard from since sending another colleague a ‘cryptic’ message later that evening.
She was reported missing for a second time last Friday after missing three shifts in a row.
Australian waitress Jessica Parkinson (pictured) who vanished from a hostel in south London, has now been found
She did not turn up to work at Texas Joes three days later. When asked where she was, she told managers she would be ‘right there’ by 5pm but never showed
The waitress was first reported missing by her father on December 8 after failing to make contact with relatives
Her manager Joe described her as ‘reliable’ as well as ‘very clever, outgoing and friendly’
Restaurant owner Joe Walters told MailOnline: ‘Jess was meant to work on Wednesday, and she was supposed to start at 4.
‘At around that time our manager sent a message asking where she was, and she responded that she thought she was in at 5 and she would be right there. That was very out of character for her.
‘She didn’t show up, but sent a cryptic message to another member of staff that evening. She didn’t mention missing work.
‘Then she didn’t show up to work on Thursday and then when she didn’t show up on Friday I reached out to her father in Australia.
‘He told me the police had been alerted and is being dealt with by the missing persons unit.’
‘She’s very reliable and we have a close relationship,’ Joe added. ‘She is very clever, outgoing and friendly.‘
She had recently had struggles with her housing and had been evicted from a flat share so was living in a hostel.
‘She wasn’t very happy with that situation which I can imagine so we were trying to assist her with finding something and we hadn’t made any progress with that. She was stressed out about it at the time.
‘She was going back to Australia for the holidays and said she might stay there until March to get stuff together and then come back but no one in Australia has heard from her.