‘I fear I won’t see him ever again’ Mum begs for son, 14, who vanished without a coat, phone or money

A mother has spoken of how the ‘seconds feel like hours’ as the search for her missing teenage son enters its eleventh day.

Callum, 14, was declared missing after vanishing in the night without a coat, a phone, or any money on November 29.

His mother Gemmalea told Metro: ‘It’s been a living nightmare. I don’t know if someone is holding him. I don’t know where he is. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat.’

She has been trawling the wetlands, woodlands, fields, and neighbourhoods surrounding Crawley in Sussex where he was last seen.

She has put up posters, posted on social media, and even left rescue bags full of blankets, chocolates and his favourite soft drink – Lucozade – in the distant hope he comes across them.

‘There were 40 people looking for him yesterday, I didn’t organise anything. It’s been overwhelming.

‘He’s my only boy and a boy needs his mum,’ she says.

‘It is heartbreaking. I go to sleep with a photo with him. I go to sleep crying and wake up still crying over him.’

She said overall police have been good after they upgraded the severity of the search to the highest risk.

Her hopes were briefly raised when police raided a house with a boy who ‘looked identical inside’ – but it wasn’t him.

‘It’s back to square one,’ she explains.

‘Minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days, weeks feel like months. I can’t sleep without him.’

‘He is very polite, helpful, he is my angel. He wants to be a marine biologist. He’s good with women, he grew up surrounded by sisters who love him and miss him – he has always been outnumbered.’

Addressing him directly: ‘Just come home, we will listen to you. We all love you, we’re not angry with you, we just want you to be safe. I’m your mum and I will be here for you always.

‘Just please reach out. It’s getting to the point where I worry I will never see him again.

‘I just want him home, please make contact. If I hear from him it will be like ten million Christmases all in one.’

She has asked police to ‘get the dogs, helicopters and thermal drones’ out to look for him before he comes to harm as temperatures plummet.

Lisa Nyvel, a family friend who is helping the search, said: ‘My daughter was friends with Callum in primary school but they lost touch when they went to secondary.

‘It’s the least I can do to help Gem get her son back.’

His mother now feels guilty every second he is not with her.

She said: ‘I don’t like the unknown. I’m sitting in here in the warm, and I don’t know where he is. It is cold, dark and wet – he needs his mum.

‘I would hold on to him and never let him go. Not until he is 45 we will be attached by the wrist.’

Crawley Police said in an appeal they are continuing to search for Callum.

In a statement, they said: ‘The 14-year-old was last seen in Padstow Walk near the Douster Brook in Crawley.

‘He is 5’8″ with short, mousey brown hair and was last seen wearing a black hooded top, black jeans, and black trainers.

‘We are aware of information around Callum’s whereabouts being posted to local social media groups.’

Anyone who sees Callum or knows of his whereabouts should report it to police by calling 101.