14-Year-Old Girl Just 'Vanished without a Trace' – Broken Mom Reveals Their Last Conversation
- A 14-year-old girl named Shyanne-Lee Tatnell has gone missing.
- Police have issued statements concerning the likelihood of locating the young girl unharmed and alive as more time passes without her return.
- Tatnell's distraught mother has revealed her last conversation with her daughter, and her family thinks she may have been "forced" by a stranger to get into a vehicle.
Shyanne-Lee Tatnell is a 14-year-old Tasmanian girl who went missing on April 30. The teenager grew up with three brothers in Burnie, a northern town in Tasmania. It has now been over six weeks since she was last seen, and her mother, Bobbi-Lee Ketchell, and grandmother, Michelle Hubbard, have unfortunately started to think the worst of the dire situation and fear what may happen to her.
The family is at a loss as to how Tatnell could have vanished in the first place. As the search for her continues, Tatnell's family continues to plead to the public for help ensuring her safe return home.
A screenshot from "A Current Affair" showing Shyanne-Lee Tatnell's distraught mom crying over her daughter's disappearance posted on June 16, 2023. | Source: YouTube.com/A Current Affair
Shyanne-Lee Tatnell's Family Speak Out on the Tragic Situation
Tatnell disappeared on a Sunday at 9 p.m. while en route to see a friend. Reports stipulate that the teenage girl was near the North Esk River on Launceston's Henry Street Bridge when she vanished and never reached her destination. Before she went missing, Tatnell and her mom's relationship went through a period of tension, so she went to stay with her grandmother temporarily.
Ketchell did not deny that she and her daughter went through their fair bit of friction. The mother admitted that she and Tatnell did not always see eye to eye. Despite this, Ketchell adores her daughter unconditionally:
"She's my baby, and I just really want her back... She's lonely, she's lost, and I wish I could find her. I wish I could be that one... [She means] the world [to me]. She's my one and only daughter."
After staying with her grandmother for a while, Tatnell moved to a Launceston youth center. The night she went missing, Tatnell had one last phone conversation with her mom, and the two quarreled over her breaking her curfew after she had been grounded, and her mother warned her not to break it again. Ketchell recalled:
"She got upset. We had a little bit of a disagreement [as] to why she should stay, and then I said I love you."
Unfortunately, Ketchell did not get an 'I love you' back from her daughter. While speaking with "A Current Affair," she described her daughter as an outgoing, bubbly, and stubborn young woman. She has a rebellious spirit which makes it difficult for her mom to give her advice or discipline her at times.
Feeling helpless and not knowing where she is or how to save her has been torturous for Tatnell's family, and when it comes to theories concerning what they think might have happened, Ketchell and Hubbard fear the worst. While tearing up, Tatnell's mother expressed:
"It's a total mystery. She's vanished without a trace."
Her grandmother believes she may have accepted a ride from a stranger or that she has been forced into a car. Ketchell confirms that accepting a lift from someone would be something her daughter would most likely do as an individual who was unrelenting in doing what she wanted without concern for the consequences.
Tatnell's grandmother made a final plea to whoever may know her granddaughter's whereabouts to either release her or help bring her home.
A screenshot from "A Current Affair" video showing Shyanne-Lee Tatnell and her mom, Bobbi-Lee Ketchell posted on June 16, 2023. | Source: YouTube.com/A Current Affair
What the Police Had to Say & What Cctv Footage at the Location Showed
As the urgent search for Tatnell continues, Ketchell expressed concern over the fact that her daughter has not reached out to her. Additionally, Tatnell has not used any of her bank accounts or been active on social media, which are all things Ketchell says her daughter regularly does, even when she has run away from home in the past.
As police investigated the missing case further, no objects or evidence was found that could prove a forensic link to Tatnell by the river she went missing. However, reviewed footage from a CCTV camera shows Tatnell running at one point, but police say there was nothing to suggest she was being chased. Additionally, the footage showed two silver vehicles that crossed the bridge on the night of the disappearance, of which the police have conveyed interest in speaking to the drivers of the cars:
"We actually want to discount you from any investigation, from any potential witness, so we can move on with other aspects of the investigation."
Though hope remains for Tatnell's safe return, the police and her mother have started considering a harsh reality. While briefing the media, a policeman said:
"We have to be realistic about the fact that the longer she is missing, then the chances of finding her alive become less and less."
Hubbard still maintains the impossibility of someone vanishing off the surface of the earth without one single trace: no phone found, no item of clothing, etc. Similarly, Ketchell believes that someone somewhere has to know something about what led to her daughter's disappearance.
The police, the family, and concerned members of the Tasmanian community have urged anyone who may have information on Tatnell's whereabouts to come forward. A policewoman pleaded:
"We plead, if anyone out there has any information, if Shyanne can hear me, please, you're not in any trouble, please come forward, and let us know that you're okay."
The public who have been following the story wishes for the safe return of Tatnell. A fellow Tasmanian mother who does not know the family directly but was moved by the tragic story started a Facebook community and has hosted vigils in an effort to assist with the search.
The missing child's grandmother made a final plea to whoever may know her granddaughter's whereabouts to either release her or help bring her home. She ended her statement by sending a message to Tatnell, expressing how much she is loved and how much her family needs her, as they are broken without her.