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8 September 2021

Essex trans girl, 16, goes missing just days after coming out

Model and activist Munroe Bergdorf has helped share news that the teenager from Essex has gone missing and not been seen since Friday 3 September

By Alastair James

Words: Alastair James; pictures: Twitter/@lobrereton

The model, activist, and author, Munroe Bergdorf, has helped amplify messages asking people to help find a missing trans girl, who hasn’t been seen in nearly a week.

Posts have appeared across social media in recent days in regards to 16-year-old Maya, from Stansted in Essex, who was last seen by her family on Friday 3 September before 7:30am BST.

Maya’s family and friends have shared posts asking people to help find her and to get in touch if they have information.

“We are all worried”

In the post shared by Bergdorf, it’s stated that Maya was last seen arriving at Liverpool Street Station at around 8:40am. It includes a description of Maya’s appearance, describing her as being 5’10, having pale skin, a slim build, hazel eyes, and fixed braces on her teeth.

Maya is said to have been wearing a pink wig, pink t-shirt, white skirt, and tights, with a white handbag, black Puma backpack, and wheeling a black wheelie suitcase when she was last seen. CCTV pictures of Maya are included.

It adds that sightings can be reported by calling 999 and quoting MPC/4367/21.

Addressing Maya directly, Munroe Bergdorf says: “If you are reading this lovely, please let someone know that you are safe. I know how difficult and oppressive growing up in a small town like Stansted can be when you don’t fit the status quo.

“But please let someone know that you are ok so that we can help you with whatever you need. We are all worried and just want to know that you’re okay. You are not alone.”

She adds that Maya is “at considerable risk of danger,” given her age and the fact that she’s transgender, and that people need to “have all of the facts to fully understand her situation and the gravity of why we need to find her as soon as possible to ensure her safety.”

 
 
 
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A post shared by Munroe ✨ (@munroebergdorf)

Sharing the same post, Dr. Ronx Ikharia, a trans-non-binary doctor and presenter, said: “This will be one of the most dangerous times in this trans girl’s life. Her risk of death by suicide/risk of abuse/maltreatment/ decline in MH / poverty and drug use will be high.”

They reminded people Maya is vulnerable and could find people trying to help intimidating.

Another missing poster, shared by Lauren Brereton – the flatmate of Maya’s cousin – reads: “We have no idea where Maya has gone. She is a young trans girl and running away is extremely out of character. She is very vulnerable as she has only ‘come out’ today.”

Research by the LGBTQ charity, Just Like Us, in April found that 14 percent of trans people say they’d “never” felt optimistic about the future in the past 12 months. The charity surveyed nearly 3,000 secondary school pupils from across the UK. The charity has also found that while LGBTQ pupils are more likely to contemplate suicide, trans pupils are even more likely to, with 77 percent compared to 66 percent of gay boys.  

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A post shared by Munroe ✨ (@munroebergdorf)

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