Kent Police are searching for Ava Anderson, 15, from Dartford, after she was last seen on Saturday evening. Officers believe she travelled to Dartford station and boarded a train into London, and they are asking anyone with critical information about where she is to come forward at once.
Ava was last seen at around 6.40pm on Saturday, October 24, around The Brent area in Dartford. From there, police believe she travelled to Dartford station and boarded a train into the capital. The appeal, issued on Sunday, does not state a destination station or any further movements after she boarded the train.
Ava is described as 5 feet 1 inch tall with hazel eyes. She has dark brown hair with blond highlights at the front. When she was last seen she was wearing a grey hoody, red and black checked trousers and Croc-style shoes. The photograph issued with the appeal shows her in the grey hoody described by police.
Kent Police have asked anyone with “critical” information regarding her whereabouts to call 999, quoting reference 24-1272. For all other information, people should contact police by dialling 101. The appeal draws a clear line between the two routes: the 999 number is for anything critical, while 101 is for everything else.
Dartford lies just beyond London’s south-eastern edge, on the rail line into the capital, and the belief that Ava took a train towards London is the central strand of the appeal. Nothing in the appeal says why she left, where she was heading beyond the capital, or who she may have been with. Police have not released any further details about her movements, and no other information about the circumstances has been published in the appeal.
That restraint is deliberate in appeals of this kind. What officers need most urgently is a sighting: someone who has seen Ava since Saturday evening, who knows where she is now, or who has information that could help officers find her. Every hour that passes makes a fresh sighting more valuable, and police are asking people in Dartford and across London to keep the description in mind.
Anyone who believes they have seen Ava, or who knows where she might be, should call 999 quoting reference 24-1272 if the information is critical. Anything else should go to police on 101. A similar police appeal was issued on Friday for a man who went missing from a medical unit in Lewisham, with officers there also asking the public to call 999 immediately rather than approach him.
Anyone who was around Dartford station on Saturday evening, or on a train heading into London, may have seen Ava without realising it at the time. That is why the clothing details matter: the grey hoody, the red and black checked trousers and the Croc-style shoes are the markers police want people to look out for. The photograph issued with the appeal shows Ava in the grey hoody, and it is the image officers want the public to recognise.
The appeal in full is short, and every part of it counts. Ava Anderson is 15 and from Dartford. She was last seen at around 6.40pm on Saturday, October 24, around The Brent area in Dartford. She is 5 feet 1 inch tall, with hazel eyes and dark brown hair with blond highlights at the front. She was wearing a grey hoody, red and black checked trousers and Croc-style shoes. Police believe she travelled to Dartford station and boarded a train into London. Anyone with critical information about her whereabouts should call 999 quoting reference 24-1272, and anyone with other information should call 101.
Quoting the reference number, 24-1272, when calling helps officers link the call to Ava’s case straight away. The two numbers serve different purposes: 999 is for critical information, where time may matter, and 101 is for anything else that could still help. Either way, the message from police is the same — if you know something, say so, and do not wait for someone else to make the call.
This article will be updated if police issue further information about Ava’s whereabouts.
