Teenager searched internet for 'depression' before disappearing eight days ago

An Oldham teenager who has been missing for eight days had searched for information about depression on the internet shortly before he disappeared, his family say. Dillon Duffy, 18, from the Chadderton area, went missing on June 18.

His mother, Donna Duffy, said she dropped him off near the Asda supermarket on Milne Street at around 8am and he was supposed to go to his nearby workplace but never showed up. He told his mother he was going to the supermarket first for a drink.

Dillon is thought to have taken a train from Manchester Piccadilly at around 3.35pm that afternoon to Stoke. He then took a train from there to London Euston, and his last known appearance was at the capital's station, some 200 miles from his home.

Donna said today: “We haven't heard anything. I keep contacting London police and they keep doing the same checks that Oldham police have already done. They tell me they're going to start CCTV surveillance but I'm not convinced they're doing that.”

“I'm going to Manchester Piccadilly to see if there's any sign that there was something he was looking at there – to try to retrace his steps. There's still no sign that he spent any money from his bank account. We think he probably has some cash on him.

“He’s never disappeared before. From his Google history, it looks like he was in the wrong place – he was looking for videos about depression. We didn’t know anything about it at the time. We didn’t have any arguments at home, there was no indication why he might want to leave.

“He had just been on holiday with his grandparents a week before he passed away in Tenerife to celebrate his grandmother’s 60th birthday. He has planned a holiday next week to go to Zante with his friends, and a holiday with us in August. He has a lot to look forward to and it’s totally unusual.

“As far as we know he doesn’t know anyone in London – his social media history doesn’t indicate that. When I dropped him off at Asda he was fine. All his social media is off at the moment and there’s no indication he was talking to anyone.”

Donna said that since Dillon was looking for information about depression, she thought his search would be more urgent. “But right now, he's considered average risk.” On Saturday, June 15, Dillon had attended a friend's 18th birthday party.

Dillon's father travelled to London to search the area around Euston Station and hand out leaflets, but has since had to return home. The Metropolitan Police appealed for help in finding the teenager on Friday.

Police shared two images of him, including one showing what he was last seen wearing, and wrote: “Dillon, 18, is missing from Greater Manchester. Dillon took a train to Euston on the evening of June 18. He was wearing a black hooded jacket, a grey cap, black tracksuit bottoms and black and grey trainers. If you have seen Dillon please call 101 quoting reference 01/491880/24.”

Dillon is believed to be carrying a novelty blanket with a “Simpsons” motif. The 18-year-old is described as a white male, approximately 5'9″ tall and of medium build.

His “dirty blonde hair” is cut “very short.” Dillon was last seen wearing a dark gray North Face zip-up hoodie, which has a white logo on the left chest.

He was also wearing tight black sweatpants and black and grey Nike sneakers with white soles. Dillon was also seen wearing a beige baseball cap and carrying a black Puma backpack in the CCTV footage released of him.

Any information on Dillon's whereabouts can be reported to the Metropolitan Police by calling 101 with reference 01/491880/24.