Amelia Bambridge, 21, from Worthing, was travelling alone for the first time on the island of Koh Rong, south west of mainland Cambodia
The mother of missing British gap year student who disappeared while travelling alone in Cambodia is joining the search for her daughter.
Amelia Bambridge, 21, from Worthing, was travelling alone for the first time on the island of Koh Rong, south west of mainland Cambodia.
She was last seen at a beach party 40 minutes from her hostel at 3am on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old was due to check out of her youth hostel at noon yesterday to leave the island later in the afternoon with a friend.
She has been declared officially missing by local authorities.
Worried mother Linda Bambridge, 52, is taking an emergency flight to the island to join a search party of concerned locals and police.
As she prepared to leave the family home in Worthing, Ms Bambridge said: ‘I have got numbers of people to contact in Cambodia.
‘I’m going to Bangkok, getting another flight to the country, then transport from the capital to the coastline.
‘From there I will get a ferry, hopefully arriving at 2pm tomorrow afternoon local time.’
She was staying at a hostel, the Nest Beach Club, on a southern bay of the island. Her handbag – which had her purse, phone and bank cards in it – was found on a beach 40 minutes away where she had been at a party
Amelia’s handbag, which had her purse, phone and bank cards in it, was found on the beach after a party held on Wednesday night. Her passport is still at the hostel, the Nest Beach Club.
It is understood there are no lights from the beach to the Nest Beach Club, which is 40 minutes away.
The area is also thickly forested.
Her mother is hoping that Amelia, a former student at Bhasvic in Hove, got ‘lost on her way back’ and the search party will be able to find her.
Worried mother Linda Bambridge, 52, is taking an emergency flight to the island to join a search party of concerned locals and police
Amelia’s sister Georgie, 19, is close to her and said Amelia would message the family whenever she had wifi.
She said: ‘She is strong minded, really sensible and very organised.
‘She spent the last year Googling solo female travelling, looking at pages and blogs and sorting out everything.
‘I’m just in shock, she has never done anything like this before.
‘I spoke to her Wednesday and she normally messages us every now and then, every time she got wifi.
‘I told her to put loads of pictures online to see what she was up to. It’s horrendous but we need to be positive and she needs to be found.’
Amelia left the UK last month after completing an apprenticeship.
Ryan Harris, 18, who was part of the group travelling the Asian country with the 21-year-old, raised the alarm.
Ryan moved on to another island with plans to link back up with Miss Bambridge.
Cambodian police have been informed but Ryan said they had indicated nothing would be done until Miss Bambridge had been missing for 72 hours.
He said: ‘She was one of the first people I met over here about a week ago.
‘I met her in Phnom Penh and we got the boat to Koh Rong, we all spent a few days together and met up with a few other people in a big group.
‘We went on to a neighbouring island but she stayed there with another girl I know who had travelled with us on the boat over.
‘I then had to travel back to Koh Rong after leaving my passport at the hostel and when I got there two people told me she had gone missing.
‘I assumed she would turn up but I have since travelled another 12 hours on a bus to Siem Reap and she still has not been found. She is supposed to be in Siem Reap by now.
‘From my experience I would say it is out of character for her not to come back after a few hours and it is a small island.
‘Even if you go your separate ways after a few drinks you see people again ten or 20 minutes later. She should have come back by now.’
Ryan explained that the hostel held passports to ensure customers paid the bill but Amelia had not gone back for hers.
‘She hasn’t gone back for that or checked out which raises a red flag,’ he said.
Amelia was last seen wearing a tropical print shirt.
She has a cow tattoo on her forearm and two cat tattoos on her legs.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: ‘We are assisting the family of a British woman who has been reported missing in Cambodia and are in close contact with the Cambodian police.’