Gaia Pope, who suffers from epilepsy, was last seen in Swanage, Dorset on November 7
A driver claims to have captured chilling dashcam footage of Gaia Pope just hours after she was last seen running down a road in a ‘distressed state’ – as her family cling to the hope that she is still alive.
The grainy footage was recorded just outside Gaia’s home village of Langton Matravers in Dorset at 11:35pm on November 7, the night she vanished.
It appears to show a person leaning out of the car window and wearing lightly-coloured trousers – similar to those worn by the teenager on the night she vanished.
Carpenter Paul Elsey is being held as detectives revealed that clothes similar to those the missing 19-year-old was wearing had been found by a walker near a 70ft clifftop.
Gaia’s father and cousin gave an emotional interview on Good Morning Britain today, urging anyone with information about the teenager to come forward.
The unnamed driver told The Mirror the passenger appeared to be saying goodbye to someone as they were being dropped off.
The motorist said the car stopped near Dancing Ledge – the coastal path where a member of the public yesterday found a pile of clothes thought to belong to Gaia.
A motorist claims this grainy footage, recorded just outside Gaia’s home village of Langton Matravers in Dorset at 11:35pm on November 7, could show the teenager being dropped off
Ongoing search: Forensic teams combed films for evidence on Thursday after finding clothes believed to belong to Gaia
The driver said: ‘I saw someone leaning in to the car, as if they were talking to someone. It looked like they had just been dropped off and they were saying goodbye.
‘To stop on a main road, on a blind bend in the dark – it’s a strange place to stop.’
A Dorset Police spokesman said: ‘We asked the public to come forward if they had CCTV or dashcam footage in and around the Swanage area shortly before or after Gaia’s disappearance.’
Police yesterday cordoned off a section of the South West coast path around 200 yards inland from the cliff edge, between the beauty spots of Anvil Point and Dancing Ledge.
It is around an hour’s walk from where Gaia, who suffers from epilepsy, was last seen in Swanage, Dorset, and two miles south of her family home in the village of Langton Matravers.
The owner of the clothes has not yet been identified, but the discovery by a walker was significant enough that Gaia’s family were informed.
Gaia was wearing grey and white woven leggings, white trainers and a red checked shirt with white buttons when she vanished
Less than two hours after announcing the discovery of the clothes yesterday, Dorset Police confirmed they had made a third arrest over Gaia’s disappearance.
Investigation: Swanage was where Gaia was last seen with clothes found 200yards from 70ft cliffs popular with hikers
Anguished: The father of the missing teenager, Richard Sutherland, broke down during an interview to ITV News and said his family has been left ‘distraught’ by Gaia’s disappearance
Police yesterday cordoned off a section of the South West coast path around 200 yards inland from the cliff edge, between the beauty spots of Anvil Point and Dancing Ledge
Last pictures: Gaia Pope was seen buying an ice cream at a petrol station in Valley Road between Langton Matravers and Swanage at around 2.55pm on Tuesday, November 7. Shortly after, she disappeared
The man was identified by his family as Paul Elsey, a carpenter who specialises in church restorations.
He is the uncle of Nathan Elsey, 19, who was arrested on Tuesday along with his grandmother Rosemary Dinch. They were later released.
Paul Elsey shares a first-floor flat with his mother, Mrs Dinch, 71, in Swanage, where Gaia was last seen. CCTV footage of Gaia on November 7 shows her running down the road towards Paul Elsey’s flat at 3.40pm.
She is said to have banged on his door in a distressed state and Mrs Dinch claimed she then stripped to her bra.
Mrs Dinch, 71, was arrested hours after she was interviewed on local TV where she described how Gaia ‘pounded’ on her door, saying ‘help me, help me’
Defiant: Paul’s father Greg Elsey told MailOnline his son was innocent and said he believed police were unfairly targeting his family. Above, Nathan Elsey, 19, pictured left with grandfather Greg, right on Thursday
Pictured: Grey Elsey’s home in Romsey, Hampshire, where Rosemary Dinch and their grandson Nathan have been staying as their home in Swanage is under investigation
The mother of missing teenager Gaia Pope (pictured right), Natasha (left), launched a Facebook appeal desperately urging people to ‘check their garages and vans because she could be held prisoner there’
The pensioner then says she convinced Gaia to put her clothes back on, except for a black jacket which was later recovered from the address.
Detectives had been trying to track Paul Elsey down since he went missing on Tuesday afternoon, a week after Gaia disappeared.
They seized his VW Golf and obtained a warrant to search his father’s £460,000 bungalow in Romsey, Hampshire, on Tuesday.
According to his father, Paul Elsey claims he was in Weymouth, Dorset, on the day Gaia disappeared, carrying out work on a property he owns there.