Parents' pain over missing child

Teenager Natasha Coombs, from Dovercourt, went missing on Friday

An insurance firm manager whose only child went missing nearly a week ago, has spoken of his "unimaginable pain" at her disappearance.

Natasha Coombs, 17, from Dovercourt, Essex, left her home on Friday 27 July to go to Ipswich, Suffolk.

Essex Police said the teenager called home at 2215 BST to say she was returning by train but had not been heard from since.

Police said Natasha is white, 5ft 3in, slim and has brown highlighted hair.

She was wearing a purple sequinned top, a pink and white ra-ra skirt and a white jacket.

We want her to know that she has nothing at all to worry about, we just want to see her and know she is okay Natasha's father Gary Coombs

Her father, Gary Coombs, 48, and her mother, Joanne, 40, broke down as they made a televised appeal for help in finding their daughter.

"It is pain like you cannot imagine every day," said Mr Coombs.

"It is so, so hard being without our Natasha. She is our only child. She is our family. She is our life. She is everything.

"We want her to know that she has nothing at all to worry about, we just want to see her and know she is okay. If she's with anyone it doesn't matter, we just want to hear from her.

"If anyone knows anything at all about where she is please, please tell the police."

'House so empty'

Mrs Coombs added: "The house is so empty without her. It's unbearable. She has so much to look forward to at the moment. There is no reason for her to go missing."

Detectives know that Natasha boarded a train at Ipswich late on Friday, then disappeared at about 2315 BST.

Natasha's phone disappeared from the mobile network in Manningtree, Essex.

Officers were today searching areas around Manningtree station in the hope of finding clues as to the youngster's whereabouts.

Natasha went for a Chinese meal with two girlfriends in Ipswich on Friday evening, police said.

She called her parents at 2215 BST to say she was on her way home by train and would catch a taxi from Dovercourt station to her house.