Missing 13-year-old Lilia found safe and well in Manchester
Lilia, 13, reported missing from Bolton for over a week, has been found safe and well in Manchester city centre.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The 13-year-old girl at the centre of a week-long missing person inquiry, Lilia, has been found safe and well in Manchester city centre, Greater Manchester Police have confirmed. Her family have been informed. The force thanked the public for sharing appeals and said officers had located her in the city centre.
Lilia was reported missing by her family on Friday 11 September after she left their home in Bolton at around 8pm. The following day she was seen at the Trafford Centre shopping complex in Manchester, where she boarded the 247 bus towards Altrincham. It was not known how long she stayed on the bus or where she got off.
On Sunday she was captured on CCTV entering and leaving a McDonald's in Piccadilly Gardens. The footage showed her wearing a dark top with the hood up, baggy jeans and a black backpack, apparently alone. On Monday morning, police received information of further sightings, and CCTV corroborated that she had got onto a number 36 bus in Salford. That bus route travels from Bolton through Salford into Manchester city centre. Just after 10.30am she was identified at Manchester Piccadilly bus station.
No further confirmed sightings were made for several days. Police said they were keeping an open mind about the possibility that she had travelled outside Greater Manchester. Officers sifted through thousands of hours of CCTV, handed out leaflets in the city centre, and used a mobile billboard carrying her image and details.
During the search, Lilia's mother made an emotional appeal through Greater Manchester Police. Chief Superintendent Helen Critchley read a direct message from her to Lilia: "Lil I love you so so much. My heart is breaking without you here. I need to know you are safe. We all need you back home safe and well." Critchley also told Lilia that her family loved her, missed her, and just wanted to know she was safe, adding: "You are not in any trouble. They simply want you to come home."
In a statement confirming that Lilia had been found, Greater Manchester Police thanked everyone who shared the missing appeal. The force said she had been found safe and well in the city centre and was currently with police officers, with her next of kin informed.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Sky News |
|---|---|
| A chief superintendent made a direct appeal for Lilia to come home. | |
| Lilia boarded the 247 bus towards Altrincham, and her destination is unknown. | |
| Lilia has been missing for a week. | |
| Lilia was captured on CCTV visiting McDonald's in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester. | |
| Lilia was found safe and well in Manchester city centre. | |
| Lilia was identified by police at Manchester Piccadilly bus station at 10:36 on Monday morning. | |
| Lilia was last seen at Trafford Centre and boarded a 247 bus towards Altrincham. | |
| Lilia was last seen on Saturday at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. | |
| Lilia went missing from her home in Bolton last Friday. | |
| Lilia's mother made an emotional appeal for her return, saying her heart is breaking. | |
| New CCTV footage showed Lilia in Manchester city centre, the last confirmed sighting. | |
| Police are conducting a search across Greater Manchester for Lilia. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News followed the story across several programmes, from the initial appeal and CCTV updates to the confirmation that Lilia had been found safe and well. Its reports gave prominence to the mother's emotional plea and the scale of the police operation, while also noting the possibility that Lilia had travelled outside Greater Manchester.
- “Lil I love you so so much. My heart is breaking without you here. I need to know you are safe. We all need you back home safe and well.”
- “Lilia if you see this appeal please know your family love you, miss you and just want to know that you are safe.”
- “Police there say that Lilia has been found safe and well in Manchester city centre and her family have been informed.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.