A missing children’s hospital worker is believed to have disappeared on her way home from work, police said on Saturday, as Labour MP Harriet Harman launched an appeal for information on her constituent.
Petra Srncova, 32, a senior nurse assistant at Evelina London children’s hospital in Westminster, was reported missing on 3 December by a concerned colleague, and officers are intensifying their efforts to try to find her.
Srncova is believed to have left the hospital at 19.45pm on 28 November. She is thought to have been wearing a green coat and carrying a red backpack at the time, the Metropolitan police said.
It is believed that Srncova withdrew money from a cashpoint, before boarding a bus towards Elephant and Castle. She is then thought then to have changed to a bus travelling southbound towards her home address in Camberwell, where she was last sighted at 20.22pm.
A man has been arrested in connection with her disappearance and remains in custody, the Met added.
“Petra is missing, and we want people to help the police find her,” Harman said at a press conference she held on Saturday afternoon in her constituency of Camberwell.
She added: “She’s been missing for quite a few days now, she’s only 32, she’s from the Czech Republic, her parents of course are desperately worried about her, and I feel we’ve all got a particular responsibility to try and find her because she was away from her home country, away from her family, here working for our national health service.”
A Met spokesperson said police have approached her family in the Czech Republic and “they have not heard from her”.
They added:“Officers are growing increasingly concerned for Petra’s welfare and are asking anyone who has seen her, or has information as to her whereabouts, to make contact immediately.”
Det Supt Clair Kelland, from the Central South Command Unit which covers the area that Petra lives in, said: “We continue to grow increasingly worried about Petra and we are doing everything we can to try to find her.
“Her disappearance is out of character and, of course, her loved ones are extremely concerned and want to know where she is.
“Please think about if you’ve seen her, or maybe come into contact with her. If you have any information whatsoever, please get in touch and help us with our inquiries.”
The Evelina hospital said on Twitter: “We are extremely concerned about our valued colleague Petra who is missing. We want to encourage anyone who may have any information that could help to find her to contact the police.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 or tweet @MetCC referencing 21MIS037753.
