Parents' plea over missing girl

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The parents of a teenage girl missing from her Essex home have pleaded with her to come home.

Natasha Coombs, 17, has not been seen since boarding a train to her home in Dovercourt, Essex, from Ipswich, Suffolk, on 27 July.

Police believe she got off the train at Manningtree, Essex, and have traced her mobile phone signal to the area.

Parents Gary and Joanne said they were living in constant fear of what tomorrow could bring.

They said Natasha had recently split from her boyfriend, who she had been seeing on and off for less than a year.

Mrs Coombs said her daughter had never been missing before but had stayed out overnight with friends on occasions, adding that she would always call in the morning or just turn up at home.

It's just before you go to sleep at night you fear what tomorrow is going to bring Gary Coombs

Mr Coombs said: "It would have been completely out of character for her to take off.

"I think she would take solace with Joanne and myself."

Footage of Natasha boarding a train at Ipswich station on 27 July is the last confirmed sighting of her.

Mr Coombs said: "The last few days have been pretty much the same. You feel numb.

"It's just before you go to sleep at night you fear what tomorrow is going to bring. I try to get those negative thoughts out of my head."

Gary and Joanne made a plea for their daughter to come home

Mrs Coombs added: "She has so much to look forward to. Soon she'll be learning to drive, then it will be her 18th birthday."

On the night she went missing, Mr Coombs texted his daughter to ask if she wanted to be picked up from Dovercourt train station.

At 2301 BST she replied to say she had booked a taxi.

Police are trying to establish which taxi firm Natasha called and are appealing for people who were on the same train as the teenager to contact them.