South Downs

---

encrypted Like the British, they fought in The First week of life of a lockdown in late March, Owen Harding and his mom, Stella .

The 16-year-old was frustrated that his girlfriend Meg wells of Rhodes was 280 Miles Away in New York, where she lives. It was an emotional couple of days. Meg had only Sussex, after a short visit to Owen's house in Saltdean, East. Restrictions on travel imposed had been, and it was unlikely that the couple would be able to get Together Again in the near future.

The young people do not see each other regularly because of the distance, But Owen was unsettled by the new uncertainty.

"I know, I was very excited," says His Mother , Stella . "And I know that many of My Friends were very worried, as well, and feel much grief about not being able to spend time with each other. "

Owen lives with His Mother and five-year-old sister, in the art deco-era village of Saltdean, the cliffs on the Eastern Edge of Brighton.

Stella describes herself as a "typical Brighton" - a swimming and diving instructor, traveled The World with a backpack and Owen ' s met the father of an Indian Beach . He died At Home in Geneva two years ago, after a sudden illness.

On a video-call from a teenager-bedroom, Stella , her son, describes eloquently as "the word, and wise and Mature, emotionally intelligent young man". Lacked was character.

Owen GCSE art work lines the Bedroom Walls , along with photos of friends. There are soccer trophies from his three-year career with wooding Dean Wanderers.

Owen and Meg families and friends were by Britain's burgeoning community of parents who decide to home-school their children. Meg is home-schooled, and Owen had previously. Brighton Steiner school, the Steiner school network of providers of alternative education attended, prior to the start of the art-and film-studies A-levels at a sixth form college

The couple knew each other since they were 11, had are But only a few, two years ago.

Owen spend the lockdown wanted to had with Meg, and joked with her and his friends, he might make The Journey in the direction of the North. But mom was firmly convinced that this will not happen.

"was It as in this discussion all week. That was really, really difficult Between Us ," she says.

On Thursday 26 March, the dispute flared up again, and as the evening sun in The South lights Downs, Owen left The House Without Saying a word to His Mother . CCTV images show the teenager go South to Banning's Vale, Saltdean, in the direction of the cliff at 18:13.

the distance to The cliff is less than half a mile. The Eastern Edge of Saltdean is sitting next to Telscombe Tye, a scrubby expanse of grass for walkers, marked the conference from Brighton in the East of the city and the South Downs . There are only a few hundred yards of grass beyond the coast road in front of the Tye stops at the Sussex chalk.

He made a phone call to Meg after he left The House . "He Said he had a big fight with His Mother ," she says. "And I was pissed, because I just had a fight with my mom about the same thing. And Then we are cheers easy somehow, and He Said he was just going to watch the sunset. "

It was reported The Last time someone after a conversation with Owen.

Cell site records show that Owen phone was connected to the mast at The Top of Longridge Avenue, which runs from the downland behind Saltdean on the coast road and the cliffs. 18:23 it was interrupted.

Meg made another call to your friend at 18:32, But it went straight to voicemail. Nothing, Stella was not affected. "We Live by The Sea , We Live next to the Deep. We go walking a lot. He just went, he went out and I thought to myself: 'well, Well, go and get your assigned daily exercise.

"'Go and stomp it, go and get it off your chest And Then come Back . '" But late in the evening, she had worried. She contacted friends in Saltdean and Meg family in York. 23:00 she contacted The Police .

Meg and her parents rushed Back To the South Coast The Following day and the family began the Search on The Downs behind Saltdean, and along the coast to Newhaven. She called in the abandoned farms, screamed Owen's name.

A huge police operation was quickly organized. About 80 officers visited houses and shops in the vicinity of the Hardings' bungalow. But the blocking made, which complicates the operation. Police were occasionally reply to frustrated of people, to provide doors and shutters, which might have been in the location of CCTV pictures had been closed because of the lockdown.

But The Police are giving residents in possession of surveillance cameras, The Police memory sticks. They stayed in the packages outside of the houses and later collected by officers.

had a long time Ago a great support for the campaign emerged - One that is continuing to honor the rules of social distance.

"Saltdean is a wonderful community," says Stella . "We don't need to know all of each other, of course, But it is a great community.

"So, as soon as The People in Saltdean heard that it was a teenager, is missing, everyone was talking about. People started putting up posters on [the] Friday. And everyone was on Board. "

A Social Media operation found, from the voluntary creation of the website and Facebook pages. Celebrities such as BBC Radio 2 Breakfast presenter, Zoe Ball , and YouTuber PewDiePie, who both live in Brighton and Hove, appeals posted online.

Simon Watson, a former Metropolitan Police sergeant trained In Search techniques, to organize the life of the Hardings road, offered a methodical Search . Teams of between 10 and 20 persons in the household groups, where possible, combed the grassy cliff-top area to Telscombe Tye, and the scrubby landscape behind the houses in Saltdean.

Watson had drawn up a full risk assessment and will inform the volunteer prior to each Search - to maintain it with a strict reminder, a social distance. In recognition of the difficulties, the determined due to the current situation, He Said , the Church remained firm.

"I know from experience, you can have hunches. But it is quite difficult, this, because of The Real lack of Information . "

Stella is a small camp in the garden in front of their 1930s bungalow, including a small statue of Buddha. She says, this is a space for you to rest and to reflect.

the neighbors to talk her out of the way, with words of comfort and support. And friends gave her a wood-burning stove to keep you warm, the nights spent sleeping outside, waiting for their son.

"fire and sleep on the floor, and breathe deeply, and a lot of Hiking and being outside. These are all things that kind of fed me and comfort me, so that is why I am to do that.

"And I also had this thing in my head, 'If I light a fire, and I think it only goes, it is kind of like a beacon of light and Owen is coming home. '"

But she finds human contact. "Everyone just wants to hug only me. This is what you want to do. And I want that. So, that is really, really hard, right now. "

Information and support

If you or someone you know, needs support for the topics emotional distress, be able to help.

Det TÜV-Mark-Rosser Sussex Police has admitted that the Search found no indication that Owen lives. "Pretty much everything we can do has been done," he says.

His Last Hope , that the comb could through CCTV from the buses travelling on the coast road, point the teenager to The Time he disappeared.

If Owen was last seen, The Tide below the cliffs in Saltdean was low At Sunset , and The Wind a strong North-East.

police enlisted, a oceanographer Dr. Simon Boxall of Southampton University, which found that the conditions at The Time carried out in a body to The Sea rather than the East or West along the coast. DI Rosser-officers to Search the coast as Far East as Dungeness in Kent, and alerted colleagues in mainland Europe.

Stella says she doesn't know whether her son is alive or dead, But she and Owen girlfriend Meg were prepared for the possibility that it was a tragedy on the cliffs.

"I think we have all been preparing for it since The Moment he was lost," she says.

"He has a five-year-old sister, who loves him and is aware of his absence. She always asks when Owen is come again, and my heart hurts from the thought, not to tell her that he will come again and again.

"What a feeling it is that I'm kind of teetering on The Edge of a precipice over a massive bottomless gorge of grief.

"And I don't know whether or not I allow me to jump in, you know, as I would like. "

brighton, coronavirus pandemic, missing people

Source of news: bbc.com