- Police believe Megan Stammers is with Jeremy Forrest, from East Sussex
- He is a maths teacher at the teenager's school in Eastbourne
- Pair were caught on camera as they drove onto a ferry at Dover
By Leon Watson
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A schoolgirl who sparked a cross-Channel police hunt is believed to have travelled to France with her married 30-year-old maths teacher, it emerged today.
Fifteen-year-old Megan Stammers was caught on camera with Jeremy Forrest as they drove onto a Calais-bound ferry at Dover on Friday evening.
Forrest is a teacher at her school, Bishop Bell Church of England School, in Eastbourne, East Sussex, although it is not clear whether she was in his class.
The schoolgirl was also understood to have decided to elope across the Channel with Forrest after setting off to school.
Megan Stammers went missing from her home and is believed to be in France with a teacher from her home town
Friends went on Twitter to say she had been abducted and taken to France but police said they did not have any fears for Megan's safety.
A team of officers, headed by a Chief Superintendent, was today following up a number of enquiries into Megan's disappearance but a spokesman admitted that there had been no new sightings of the pair.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said that Megan set out from her home in Eastbourne, to go to the school on Friday morning but the alarm was raised when she and the teacher both failed to arrive for lessons.
'The police were contacted at 12.30pm on Friday and inquiries started immediately to trace them both,' said the spokesman.
'Examination of CCTV footage at the port of Dover showed them embarking onto a ferry at 9.20pm on Friday.
Married: Maths teacher Jeremy Forrest, 30, pictured with his wife Emily on their wedding day in Brighton
The home of Jeremy Forrest, in Ringmer, near Lewes, East Sussex
Megan Stammers' worried mother Danielle leaving her home today
Megan Stammers is a pupil at the Bishop Bell Church of England School, in Eastbourne
The schoolgirl is believed to have travelled from Dover to Calais nine hours after she was reported missing to police
'We know that they are in Mr Forrest's black coloured Ford Fiesta car, which has the registration umber of GJ08 RJO.
'There have so far been no sightings of the car in France,' the spokesman added.
Chief Inspector Jason Tingley, who is involved in the search for Megan, today appealed for anyone knowing where the teacher and girl were heading to contact the police.
'Megan's family love her dearly and are all incredibly upset by her disappearance,' he said.
'They want her to come home as soon as possible. We need Megan or Jeremy to make contact with us to help us return her safely to her family.'
He stressed that police did not believe that Megan was in any danger.
'If you know Jeremy Forrest or have seen his black Ford Fiesta and have any information that could help us with our inquiries, then please contact us,' added the Chief Inspector.
Although Sussex Police have not yet sent any officers to France to search for Megan, Chief Supt Graham Barlett, the Gold Commander for the force and his team were known to have been in contact with their gendarme colleagues.
Detective Inspector Andy Harbour, from East Sussex CID, said: 'We are appealing for Megan to make contact with her family who are very worried and miss her.
'Megan was reported missing to us at 12.30pm on Friday after she failed to turn up for school.
'We know that she crossed from Dover to Calais at around time 9.20pm on Friday evening. We believe she is still in France and we are in contact with the French authorities.'
Megan's father, Martin Stammers said: 'We just want Megan to make contact with us. We are worried and miss her terribly. Please get in touch Megan.'
Megan was described as 5ft 6ins tall, of slim build, with very long dark brown hair and was last seen wearing a white vest top and a silver necklace.
His poor wife. I had a look online and they only got married last year. She is a photographer and her wedding was on Rock n Roll Bride but she has had everything taken down; her website, Twitter, her blog, the RnR blog, the wedding album on a different photographer's website. I think it's very unfair that you print a picture with her in it when she must be going through a horrible time, like the parents of this girl
- Stephanieb , London, 23/9/2012 16:54
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