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ABC News
ABC News
National
Manika Champ and Damian McIntyre

Community joins search for Shyanne-Lee Tatnell — 14-year-old Tasmanian girl missing for 10 days

Community members have joined emergency service workers in the search for Shyanne-Lee Tatnell. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)
  • In short: Community members have joined the police search for the first time for missing Launceston teen Shyanne-Lee Tatnell.
  • What's next? Police will keep investigating leads until they find answers.

The family of missing Tasmanian teenager Shyanne-Lee Tatnell is pleading with her to come home, as a team of community searchers work with police to try to find her.

She was last seen in an area near Henry Street, Launceston, near the North Esk River, on April 30, and the 14-year-old has not been seen nor heard from since.

Much of the police search so far has centred around the river, with community members joining search efforts for the first time from Thursday.

Shyanne-Lee Tatnell has not been seen nor heard from since Sunday, April, 30. (Supplied: Michelle Hubbard)

The teenager's aunty, Larissa Tatnell, says the family is "devastated and absolutely broken" while they wait to find out where she is.

"I just want my niece home," she said.

"She's beautiful, but she's lost."

Ms Tatnell said it was "the most horrible feeling" playing the waiting game, but the community support had been "incredible".

The organisers of a Facebook group called "Bringing Shyanne-Lee home", which has more than 2,200 members, have been keeping in contact with police over any assistance they can offer.

The search for Shyanne-Lee Tatnell has been centred around the North Esk River. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)

Only 20 volunteers were allowed to assist in the police line searches, which began from Henry Street on Thursday morning.

Searchers wearing high-vis "search crew" vests were seen crossing the bridge over the North Esk River, where Shyanne-Lee was last seen.

Police believe Miss Tatnell was on her way to visit a friend at the time of her disappearance, but she did not arrive.

The teenager has not used social media or been in contact with family or friends since.

Earlier this week police said they do not suspect foul play but are investigating all possibilities.

Shyanne-Lee Tatnell was last seen near the bridge over the North Esk River. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)

'Items of interest' found

Inspector Craig Fox said the search had uncovered "items of interest" but said it was not yet known whether they were connected to Shyanne-Lee.

"We are not going to leave this site until we are happy we have done all that we can to locate Shyanne," he said. 

Searchers are hoping to find answers as to what happened to Shyanne-Lee Tatnell. (ABC News: Jessica Moran)

"There comes a time where we will exhaust those resources, it's not here yet, but it's fast approaching.

"I'm confident she is alive until we can prove otherwise." 

He described the search, which has involved the rescue helicopter and police divers, as one of the largest in recent years.

Commander Kate Chambers said police were "overwhelmed" by the community support.

"As a mother and member of the community, I want to find Shyanne, as does everyone here today and every member of our community," she said.

"We have a number of volunteers who have given up their time or work to come and contribute to what is a real community push."

New CCTV released

In the latest attempt to get information from the public, police have released new CCTV depicting vehicles seen in the area at the time of Shyanne-Lee's disappearance.

Inspector Fox said police wanted to speak to anyone who was driving on Henry Street, in the vicinity of the North Esk River, between the hours of 8pm and 9pm on April 30.

Police have released dozens of photos of cars that drove through the Henry Street area on April 30. (Supplied: Tasmania Police)

"These drivers could be potential witnesses of Shyanne-Lee's last known movements, whether they think they saw anything or not," Inspector Fox said.

"We have CCTV images of some vehicles in the area at the time, and while the image quality isn't great we're hoping it may prompt drivers' memories."

"One small piece of information could be all we need to locate her."

Shyanne-Lee is 160 centimetres tall, with blonde hair and a slim build.

She was last seen wearing a cream, hooded jumper with black writing on the front and shoulder.

She was also wearing bike shorts.

Last week, her grandmother Michelle Hubbard said her granddaughter was polite, affectionate and "not very street savvy" and described her as trusting.

Shyanne-Lee had been staying in youth accommodation in Launceston prior to her disappearance.

Staff where she was staying alerted police to her disappearance.

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