Missing girl, 13, was excluded from school

A SCHOOLGIRL missing from home for more than two weeks, had been excluded from school on the day she vanished, it emerged yesterday.

Concern is growing for the safety of Michaela Hunter, 13, a pupil at St John's High School in Dundee, who has been missing since Monday, 19 April.

Tayside Police have already accused her schoolfriends of giving false information.

Her worried family believed a misguided acquaintance may have been providing Michaela with food and shelter since she disappeared.

But they now fear she may be being held against her will.

Yesterday, as the search for the missing teenager intensified, her mother Audrey Reid and grandmother Rosemary Grant, who has travelled to Dundee from her home in Germany, appealed for Michaela to let them know she is safe and well.

Ms Reid said: "Michaela got excluded from school on the day she went missing. I don't know if she was scared to come home in case she got into trouble, or what she is thinking. Michaela just needs to know, that no matter what, she is not in any trouble.

"Everyone is extremely worried and we just need to know that she is safe and has not come to any harm."

In a direct appeal to her missing daughter Ms Reid added: "I just need you to know how much I miss you and how much I love you Michaela."

Mrs Grant said: "The length of time Michaela has now been missing would indicate that someone must be feeding her, someone must be clothing her, and someone must be giving her shelter and warmth."