Missing Australian backpacker, Jessica Parkinson, found ‘safe and well’

Missing Australian backpacker, Jessica Parkinson, has been found in London more than a week after she was reported missing by family and concerned colleagues.

An Australian backpacker who disappeared from her London hostel just days after sending a “cryptic” text has been found.

Jessica Parkinson has now been found “safe and well”, according to London’s Metropolitan Police.

The 29-year-old had not been seen since she left work at Texas Joe’s Slow Smoked Meats in London last Wednesday.

Three days earlier she was spotted leaving St Christopher’s Inn hostel in Bermondsey, southeast London.

Australian backpacker Jessica Parkinson had been reported missing in London. Picture: Supplied

She was reported missing for a second time at 11.43pm on December 12, according to London’s Metropolitan Police.

But, according to a report in The Sun, a cafe worker on Borough High Street, the same road as her hostel, said he saw Ms Parkinson last Sunday, three days after she was reported missing.

The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, described how he saw a “dishevelled” woman, who he alleged was the missing Australian, walking down the street on Sunday night.

She was spotted travelling north towards St Christopher’s Inn hostel wearing a pink outfit at around 6.30pm local time.

Australian backpacker Jessica Parkinson has found “safe and well” in London. Picture: Supplied

“She was looking like she was fed up. Also, she was walking quite weirdly and limping,” he told The Sun.

“She looked like she could have been homeless.”

Ms Parkinson was first reported missing by her father on December 8 after failing to make contact with relatives in Queensland.

Three days later, she missed a shift at an American-style barbecue restaurant called Texas Joe’s, where she had worked for about a year.

The alarm was initially raised by Jessica Parkinson’s family. Picture: Facebook

A missing poster featuring the Australian backpacker, shared to social media. Picture: Instagram

“Jess was meant to work on Wednesday [December 11], and she was supposed to start at four,” restaurant owner Joe Walters told the Daily Mail.

“Our manager sent a message asking where she was, and she responded that she thought she was in at five and she would be right there. That was very out of character for her.”

Ms Parkinson, from the Sunshine Coast, sent a “cryptic” message to a co-worker that evening and also failed to come to work for her next two shifts, which were rostered on Thursday and Friday.

Jessica Parkinson had been living and working in London. Picture: Facebook

Mr Walters said he reached out to Ms Parkinson’s father in Australia after she missed three shifts in a row and she was reported missing to London police for a second time.

“He told me the police had been alerted and is being dealt with by the missing persons unit.”

She had recently been evicted from a flat share and forced to move into a hostel called St Christopher’s Inn on Borough High Street, near London Bridge in the city’s inner south.

The waitress had told colleagues the situation was stressful and that she was thinking about going home for the Christmas holidays and staying in Australia until March.

Colleagues of Jessica Parkinson became concerned after she missed multiple work shifts. Picture: Facebook

“She’s very reliable and we have a close relationship,” said Mr Walters.

“She is very clever, outgoing and friendly.”

A spokesman for London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed police had been looking into Ms Parkinson’s whereabouts.

Originally published as Missing Australian backpacker, Jessica Parkinson, found ‘safe and well’