Lana Purcell, who was 27 when she was last seen, went missing in January 2011

Published: 17 January, 2013
by DAN CARRIER

POLICE will blitz Camden Town and Queen’s Crescent with leaflets appealing for help to mark the second anniversary of the unexplained disappearance of a mother.

Lana Purcell, who was 27 when she was last seen, went missing from her Agar Grove home on January 15, 2011.

The former Parliament Hill school pupil was a well-known figure in the Queen’s Crescent area, where she grew up.

Police, who have launched a cold case review, have interviewed friends, run through mobile phone records and studied CCTV footage, but so far drawn a blank.

Friends and relatives fear Lana, who had issues with drug addiction, may have come to harm.

Officers will spend two weeks reaching into all parts of the Agar Grove area, where she was last seen alive, in the hope they may jog someone's memory or conscience and gain new leads.

Lana has an eight-year-old child and, despite having problems with crack cocaine and heroin, was close to her family and would speak to her five siblings and her father on a regular basis.

Her sister Davina told the New Journal: “We are at the end of our tethers. We want answers. 

“If you are out there, please make contact. We just want to know where she is. But we fear the worst.

“We will not let it rest until we find out what has happened. We feel hopeless and we are desperate for answers.

“There was no reason for her to disappear; she was on the phone to me all the time, every day, I saw her regularly, and then suddenly she just disappeared.

Detectives working on the case say they have so far ruled out foul play and believe Lana may have simply decided it was time to leave behind a chaotic lifestyle in Kentish Town and start a new life.

But her family say they find that explanation difficult to accept.

Detective Sergeant Andrew Palmer said: “The police would welcome any new leads or witnesses who may be able to offer some information as to her whereabouts.”

He said that the case was still being treated as a missing persons review, despite various rumours that included fears Lana could be being held against her will by a sex trafficking ring or that she had been harmed by drug dealing gangsters.

DS Palmer added: “There is nothing to suggest that she had come to harm.

“We are going to mark the anniversary by handing out leaflets and putting officers on the ground to speak to people in the Agar Grove area.

“We have spoken to a number of people and we have had a lot of help from friends, relatives and acquaintances. A wealth of information has been collated.

“There are a number of avenues being pursued and we are going through all we know meticulously. If Lana is out there, all I can say is, please contact us and let us know you are all right.”