Fresh appeal on missing teenager Natalie Putt mystery

A fresh appeal has been launched in a bid to solve the eight-year-old mystery of the disapearence of a teenage mother from her Black Country home.

Natalie Putt was aged just 17 when she vanished after leaving her home in Dudley in September 2003.

Her half-sister Rachel Coggins, aged 34, says she still buys Natalie a present every Christmas to lay underneath the tree in the hope that she will return.

"There isn't a day that passes when I don't think of her, what happened to her, where is she now. I have this feeling that she is somewhere close," said Rachel.

"But I guess in some ways no news is good news, it comforts me in a way as it gives you hope that she is out there."

The family have been working with the national charity Missing People to try to jog memories about her disappearence. Missing People works to try to find around 100,000 under 18s who disappear in the UK every year.

Mrs Coggins, who now lives in Nottingham with her husband and four children, says they are still working on ways to raise awareness.

More than 4,000 people have joined a group on internet site Facebook to raise awareness of the campaign to discover the whereabouts of Natalie.

It displays several photographs of Natalie including a computer-generated image showing how she may look now.

It uses specific facial features including cheek bones and hairlines from her late mother Jennifer and sisters Lowri and Rebecca to show how the ageing process may have taken effect.

Natalie, of Thornleigh, Lower Gornal, went missing on September 1, 2003, when she left her home to go to a shop. She left behind her son, then aged three months.

Anyone who has any information can call police on 0845 113 5000.

Related stories:

• New image released in search for Natalie Putt

• Family still hoping for Natalie.