Three west African Olympic athletes and a coach who vanished after last summer’s Games are among “missing people” Newham police are searching for, it was revealed this week.
The whereabouts of female sprinter, Assiata Toure, 20, from Guinea; Cameroon wonen’s football team’s reserve goalkeeper, Laure Ngako Tchimi, 25; Judo player Mandembo Kebika Cedric, 29, from the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Ivory Coast’s wrestling coach, Yves Adje, 30, remain a mystery.
It is almost 12 months since their disappearances were reported to the borough’s police Missing Persons Unit.
There has been no trace of any of them since they vanished from their accommodation in the Athletes’ Village at Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Park after the Games ended last August.
It is believed they may have been staying beneath the radar in the UK in a bid to secure permanent asylum once their temporary Olympic accreditation expired.
That ran out last November.
It is not known whether any of them applied for and were refused asylum as the Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases.
Det Ch Insp, Dave Rock, investigating officer for Newham’s Missing Persons Unit, said: “We’re working with the UK Border Agency to find them, but I think we can assume they have simply wandered off to make a better life for themselves in this country.”
The Home Office said suspected whereabouts can be reported by visiting www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/contact/report-crime/ or call charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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