Come home plea to missing pair

The devastated parents of a Wordsley schoolgirl and her boyfriend who have been missing from home for 12 days today begged them to get in touch.

At an emotional press conference, the parents of 15-year-old Charlotte Ford and Luke Jarvis, who is 16 today, appealed for information about their whereabouts.

Police believe they have run off together and could be sleeping rough somewhere in the West Midlands.

New footage has today been released of the pair, showing them at Dudley Bus Station. They were spotted there on June 26 at 5pm – the day Charlotte left her home in Oak Park Road telling her parents she was going to meet a friend.

Luke, from Bilston, who is currently on a mechanics course at Dudley College, has not been seen since he left a relative's address in Wolverhampton the following day.

No-one has heard from the couple since.

Their worried families held a press conference at the West Midlands Police headquarters Lloyd House in Birmingham today to encourage the couple to return home.

Charlotte's mother Debbie Ford, aged 37, spoke directly to her daughter, a pupil at The Wordsley School, and said: "We really miss you, we love you no matter what, it doesn't matter what has happened. We just want you to come home." Police say the couple met through friends seven months ago and had been dating on and off ever since.

Earlier this year Charlotte, who has a 19-year-old sister Stacie, went to stay with Mrs Ford's sister Donna in Wales to "take some time out".

Mrs Ford revealed today her daughter had been "happy and positive" in the weeks leading up to her disappearance and wanting to concentrate on a new business venture she was launching, breeding rabbits.

Luke's father Andrew Jarvis, from Wolverhampton, said: "We want to celebrate Luke's birthday together with all the family. We love you very much Luke and we hope you'll never forget it."