David BaleThe mother of a Norwich prostitute who went missing exactly 10 years ago said today she has thought of her daughter every day since thenDavid Bale

The mother of a Norwich prostitute who went missing exactly 10 years ago said today she has thought of her daughter every day since then.

Mother-of-two Kellie Pratt, 28, went missing on Sunday, June 11, 2000, and her grieving mum Gloria Carpena, 60, who now lives in Newcastle, said she has not been able to draw closure as her daughter's body has never been found.

Kellie was last seen at about 11.30pm talking on a mobile phone outside The Rose pub at the junction of Queens Road and City Road in Norwich. Earlier she had spoken to friends on her mobile to tell them she was with a client.

Later that night she failed to meet her friends for a prearranged lift, leaving all her belongings behind and making no contact with her family or friends.

Gloria, a mother-of-three who has five grandchildren, said: 'I don't know what could have happened, and not knowing makes it harder.

'Each day I think about Kellie, it doesn't get any easier.

'I think about her all the time and what could have happened to her. I wake up every morning and look at her photo on my bedroom wall. Her disappearance torments me.'

Gloria added: 'I know deep down she is not coming back, she would have been in touch with me by now if she was still alive. But I can't move on because I don't know what really happened.

'I have never held a funeral because there is no body. I have thought about holding a memorial service but I grasp onto hope that one day she could walk back into my life, although in my heart of hearts I know it will never happen, but I refuse to let go of her.

'Not until her body is found and I have facts of what happened to her will I be able to draw closure. It's a mother's nightmare.'

Officers have never found the Nokia 6110 mobile phone Kellie was using when she vanished, despite detailed searches.

When former Norwich landlord Steve Wright was convicted of the murder of five women in Ipswich, Norfolk police investigated whether he was linked to Kellie's disappearance along with the unsolved murders of Norwich prostitutes Natalie Pearman and Michelle Bettles, but no links were found.

Originally from Byker in Newcastle, Kellie had moved to Norwich after being in prison for shoplifting and turned to prostitution to feed her growing heroin addiction.

DI Andy Guy, who runs the cold case team in Norwich, said: 'Kellie's case remains open and any new information received is considered carefully to see if there is any way in which we can make progress in the investigation.'

Anyone with information about Kellie's disappearance should contact Norfolk Constabulary on 0845 4564567 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.