Missing Mia Lupton found safe and well

A missing schoolgirl who went missing has been found safe and well after her family issued an emotional appeal for her to come home.

Mia Lupton, 14, disappeared yesterday afternoon after getting off a ferry in Southampton.

Hampshire Police believed the teenager, from Ryde on the Isle of Wight, may have then headed towards Birmingham.

Police said: ‘We believe that she may have travelled to the Birmingham area, so would ask people in that area to keep an eye out for her’

Tonight the force confirmed the teenager was found safe and well and thanked the public for their support. 

In a plea for her safe return this afternoon, her family said her absence was ‘very out of character’ and they became ‘increasingly concerned’ for her welfare.’

Speaking to the MailOnline, her sister Sorrell Chappellow said: ‘We have always been close, me, Mia and our mum, Helen. We all tell each other the truth.

‘She’s always been a good girl – smart, sensible…this is so out of her character. It’s shocking.’

Mia, a prefect at Medina College in Newport, is in the midst of her Duke of Edinburgh qualification and is planning to go to Kenya next year to help build schools.

She was also chosen by Helen’s friend to be a ‘carnival queen’ on a float last year during an event on the Isle of Wight.

Sorrell said: ‘Mia, we are not angry with you at all, we just want you to come home.

The ‘smart and sensible’ teenager was a ‘carnival queen’ during an event on the island last year

Mia is described as white, 5ft 2ins tall, of slim build and with very long blonde hair, which has some pink colour in it

‘We are not going to tell you off, we just want you back with us safely as soon as possible.’

After officers confirmed she was found safe, Sorrell wrote a public post on Facebook which said: ‘Mia has been found and is safe!

‘Thank you all for your help and kind messages, our family really appreciates it.

‘Please allow us to be with Mia and respect our privacy, thank you.’