Police watchdog to probe missing teen case

THE police inquiry into the disappearance of teenager Gaia Pope is to be investigated by the police watchdog.

The 19-year-old, who suffered from epilepsy, went missing in Swanage, Dorset on Nov 7 last year. Her body was found 11 days later on a clifftop after an extensive search by Dorset Police.

Her family had raised concerns that a man who had allegedly sexually assaulted her when she was 17, was soon to be eligible for release from prison.

Marienna Pope-weidemann, Miss Pope’s cousin, said: “We have to ask the tough questions: why did it take 11 days to find her? Could she have been saved? Could proper support from mental health and social services have stopped this whole tragedy before it started?”

A spokesman for Inquest, the staterelated deaths charity, said: “The Inde- pendent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) [yesterday] announced their investigation into the actions of Dorset Police following the disappearance of Gaia Pope … In addition to concerns about the conduct of the police, the family have questions about whether a lack of support from underfunded mental health and social services contributed to Gaia’s death.”