- Lyla Lake has since been found safe and well, police have confirmed.
One dad has made a heartbreaking plea to his 13-year-old daughter to “please just come home safe” after she vanished last week.
Lyla Lake missed Christmas with her family after she disappeared from her home in Basingstoke, Hampshire, on Wednesday December 21.
The teenager, cousin of Olympic high jumper Morgan Lake, hasn’t been seen or heard from since but is believed to have taken a train to Reading.
Huge searches have swept through her hometown but failed to find any trace of the child as police said they were “extremely concerned” for her welfare.
Her dad Nathan Lake has since come forward to issue a desperate plea to his missing daughter.
He begged anyone with information about her whereabouts to come forward before he spoke to his teenage daughter directly, saying: “Daddy loves you.”
In the video, he said: “My 13-year-old daughter Lyla has been missing for five nights and my family and I are pleading for someone out there just to please come forth with any information surrounding her whereabouts.
“Lyla is very insecure and naive for her age, but she is never out of the house after 8pm without her parents and hasn't stayed overnight anywhere except for family members for over 18 months.
“Someone must know something. Lyla, if you are watching this, Daddy loves you so much.
“If anything is worrying you, it is nothing which can't be sorted, so please, please just come home. You're not in trouble.
“You have got hundreds of people who care for you and we all just want you to come home safe.”
This evening, Hampshire Constabulary released a CCTV image of Lyla which shows her at Reading Train Station at 9.57pm on December 21 - the night she went missing.
Detective Chief Inspector, Dave Storey, said: “Together with Lyla’s family we are growing increasingly concerned for her welfare.
“We now know that she took a train to Reading and it is possible she is still in that area.
"Therefore we are extending our appeal to the Reading area and are asking anyone who thinks they have seen Lyla since she went missing or anyone who thinks they might know where she is, to call us immediately.”
Lyla is described as mixed race, 5'6, medium build, long brown hair, brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a black puffer jacket, grey jogging bottoms and white trains.
She was carrying a Sports Direct bag for life.
If you see her please call 999 immediately, quoting 44220512908.
