Bella May Culley, 18, was reported missing while on holiday in Thailand – only to turn up 4,000 miles away in Georgia where authorities have accused her of hauling cannabis
Bella May Culley was holidaying in Thailand when she vanished without a trace – leaving her family frantic with worry. Her father Neil, alongside her aunt Kerrie, quickly flew to the country to look for the teen, and the search for her was swiftly designated “high priority” by Thai police.
However, she has since been found 4000 miles away in the country of Georgia, where she has been arrested on serious drug offences, and is being held in a “crumbling” prison.
Bella – who hails from County Durham – travelled to the Phillippines with a friend around Easter before flying to Thailand around 3 May. She was in regular contact with her family during her trip, but one unusual change raised alarm bells for her mum. Things changed when the young woman was in the Pattaya area of the country.
Lyanne Kennedy, Bella’s mum, knew something was wrong when her daughter did not ring her at the planned time. The pair had been in regular contact and on Saturday they had arranged a video call, that ended up never taking place. “The last message she sent was to me and that was on Saturday at 5.30 pm saying she was going to Facetime me later.
“That was the last message anyone has received from what we can figure out up to now,” Lyanne told Teesdale Live. “I’m just waiting on her dad who is now in Bangkok to get back with any more information. I just want her home safe or to hear her gorgeous little voice.”
Bella – who had ambitions of becoming a nurse and recently completed a course at Middlesborough College – last posted on Facebook a selfie photo wearing a yellow floral dress, posing inside a building on Monday 5 May, before all her social media activity abruptly stopped on 9 May.
Lyanne also told The Sun that she had a bad ‘gut feeling’ about her daughter’s trip to Thailand and had tried to discourage the teen from going there altogether, “I really didn’t want her to go to Thailand. I begged her to come home. I don’t trust some of the boys over there. But she wanted to meet up with some friends she made over there on a previous trip. I don’t know who any of them are.”
It is said that while she was in the Pattaya area, her phone was switched off – but questions linger about how she ended up in the ex-Soviet country of Georgia, 3,600 miles away.
The 18-year-old was detained at Tbilisi International Airport after she was allegedly caught with 34 bags of cannabis – weighing up to 14 kilograms in total – this week. She is accused of trying to traffic drugs, with officials reportedly expecting she could serve between 20 years to life behind bars.
In a shock development, the teen also reportedly told the court that she is “pregnant,” according to Georgian TV outlet Rustavi 2. It also said the British citizen “chose to exercise her right to remain silent regarding the charges”. The channel gave no further details about her reported pregnancy. Her lawyer had sought her release on bail.
The teen is being held in Georgia’s only women’s prison – an institution that has previously been criticised for its poor conditions. In 2006 the prison was called “inhuman,” degrading” and “an affront to civilised society” by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT)
Human Rights Watch also released a highly critical report into the conditions prisoners were subjected to at Tsibili No. 5, in particular, that it was “severely overcrowded”.
While Bella was travelling she posted extensively on her social media about her adventures, which included looking at baby turtles and scuba diving, as well as enjoying local delicacies and beautiful scenery.
In one post, before heading off on her backpacking trip, she joked about taking part in “criminal activities”. “Blonde or brunette? Erm how about we get up to criminal activities side by side like Bonnie n Clyde making heavy figures and f**ing on balconies all over the world,” she wrote in a caption over the TikTok video.