FAMILY and friends have gathered for a candlelight vigil to mark the birthday of missing mother Georgina Gharsallah, who police fear has been killed.

Miss Gharsallah was 30 years old when she vanished in Worthing, in March 2018.

Last night, loved ones came together in the town to hold a vigil for the missing mother of two.

The Argus:

Candles were lit outside the Guildbourne Centre, just metres from the last place she was seen on CCTV.

Miss Gharsallah's mother, Andrea, said: "We have still got that drive, we haven't given up.

"She has got two children. The hardest part is I can't let myself fall apart because I have got her two children there to keep their hope up.

"They think she is coming home."

While police still hope to find Miss Gharsallah alive, Sussex Police took the decision to record her disappearance as a homicide earlier this year.

Now nearly 20 months since her disappearance, a group of investigators, including Clive Driscoll, the retired detective chief inspector who helped secure convictions for Stephen Lawrence's killers, are helping in the search.

The Argus:

Following the change to regard the case as a homicide in August, senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Andy Wolstenholme said: "A number of vital inquiries to test 'proof of life' have been conducted but to date none of these have been able to conclusively show that Georgina is alive.

"Sussex Police is committed to recording suspected crimes fairly, openly and accurately. We record crimes on the balance of probabilities, and having taken in to account the products of our large scale investigation, I believe it right that we record the potential for a homicide to have occurred.

"Frustratingly, we don't know what happened to Georgina on that day in March 2018. She appears to have vanished without a trace. But that simply isn't possible and someone, somewhere, knows what happened.

"The recording of this crime does not mean that we have stopped looking for Georgina and all credible and reasonable lines of inquiry will still be investigated.

"It is never too late to contact Sussex Police or Crimestoppers if you have any information you think may be useful or relevant to finding Georgina."

A £10,000 reward is being offered by Crimestoppers for information that leads to the conviction of those responsible.