A former drug addict mother, stepdad on parole and doting grandmother who 'struggled' after letting the missing nine-year-old travel to Sydney to reconnect with her family
- By Brittany Chain for Daily Mail Australia
As Christmas passed and school holidays dragged on, missing schoolgirl Charlise Mutten's doting grandmother agreed to let the nine-year-old visit her mother in Sydney.
The summer trip was the perfect opportunity for mother and daughter to reconnect after Covid-enforced border closures and a jail stint had driven them apart.
Charlise lives with her grandmother, Deborah Mutten, in Coolangatta on the Gold Coast and attends a local primary school south of the border, where she's known as a spritely and cheerful student.
Deborah shared a sweet photo just two weeks ago on January 5. With the ocean as a backdrop, Charlise leaned back and kissed her beaming grandmother on the cheek.
Five days later, after Charlise had already made the trip to NSW to see her mother, Deborah confessed to a friend she was 'struggling'.
Deborah shared a sweet photo just two weeks ago on January 5. With the ocean as a backdrop, Charlise leaned back and kissed her beaming grandmother on the cheek
'A bit of silly business was needed to lift the mood,' she said alongside a photo of herself using a comedic Snapchat filter.
'Struggling a bit to be quite honest.'
Then, on January 14, she learned her beloved granddaughter had vanished while in the temporary care of her daughter, Kallista Mutten.
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