A lawyer for 18-year-old Bella May Culley has shared an update on the teen’s situation after she went missing while travelling in Thailand and turned up 4,000 miles away in Georgia.
Bella’s family, from Billingham, UK, had reported Bella missing on May 13, but were left stunned when they learned she had been arrested in Georgia after allegedly being caught with 12kg (26lbs) of marijuana and 2kg (4.4lbs) of hashish.
The teen has been hit with charges of illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics, and she is now being held in a Georgia jail cell as she faces a sentence from 15 years to life if found guilty.
On Monday (May 19), Bella was granted permission to speak to Mariam Kublashvili, a Georgian lawyer who is offering her services to Bella for free, and who has also had a stint on a dancing competition TV show in the country.
Bella May Culley told a court hearing she is pregnant (Facebook/Bella Culley)
Kublashvili later spoke to The Sun about her conversation with Bella, revealing that the teen is ‘sad but calm’.
The lawyer said: “My initial impression was very positive – she is very open, very pleasant, and charming. She doesn’t fit the profile of a drug trafficker at all.”
Kublashvili expressed her belief that Bella had been ‘used and manipulated’, saying: “For anyone, like me, with experience in dealing with such cases, it would be quite obvious that she is a victim here.”
“I have a 20-year-old child myself and can only imagine what her parents must be feeling,” Kublashvili added.
The lawyer’s visit to the jail came after Bella revealed at a court hearing that she is pregnant, prompting Kublashvili to insist that she needs ‘medical care’ which she reportedly ‘wasn’t getting’.
Bella has asked the lawyer to bring her food and clothes (Bella Culley/Handout)
Kublashvili claimed Bella had asked for a jumper and warmer clothes to help keep her from getting cold in the jail, and said she ‘doesn’t like what she is fed in the prison at all’. However, she said Bella is getting on with her cellmates, who are two other women.
The lawyer continued: “She asked me for tuna fish, which I thought was odd and might have been something to do with pregnancy cravings – but I found out later fish cannot be sent in.
“She told me no tests, checks or medical examinations have been done. She said she asked for a doctor, but the doctor wasn’t speaking English and they couldn’t understand each other.”
Bella’s father has travelled to Georgia to support his daughter and told The Sun that he will stay ‘as long as it takes’ to help get her out of jail.
Kublashvili said the teen now ‘expects her dad to visit’ and ‘would very much like to go home’.
A British teenager’s backpacking trip has taken a turn for the worst after she was arrested in Georgia.
Bella Culley from Billingham, UK, was travelling around Thailand when her family reported her missing on Tuesday (May 13) after not having heard from her for a few days. Culley had been in the Philippines last month before arriving in Thailand on May 3.
Then, in an unexpected turn of events, Culley’s family learned that the 18-year-old had been arrested in Georgia over 4,000 miles away from her last known location in Thailand.
The teenager was taken into custody at Tbilisi International Airport. She reportedly had 12kg (26lbs) of marijuana and 2kg (4.4lbs) of hashish on her at the time, says BBC News, and has since been charged by Georgian police with illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics.
Who is Bella May Culley?
Bella Culley was recently reported missing by her family (Facebook/Bella May Culley)
Culley is an 18-year-old student from County Durham, UK, who reportedly had hopes of studying nursing when she returned home from her travels, The Independent reports.
Her mother told Teesside Live that she had travelled to the Philippines with a friend before going to Thailand, while her friend went to Ibiza instead.
The teen is also reportedly pregnant and said so at the recent hearing of hers in Georgia, as per her state-appointed lawyer, Ia Todua.
Her lawyer continued in a statement: “This was her first time in court, and she was terrified and confused, kind of lost. Because of that, we decided to exercise the right to remain silent. In a few days, after we’ve had consultations and discussions, we’ll decide whether and how to adjust this position.
“New lawyers, private ones, both Georgian and British, will soon be involved and more details will be told.”
What’s next for Bella May Culley?
Officials allege that drugs were discovered in a bag supposedly belonging to Culley (Ministry of Internal Affairs)
Apparently prosecutors have said that they need two months to gather evidence on Culley and the crimes she’s been accused of before the case is brought to trial.
Todua said: “They said that they had to conduct a lot of investigative activities, so that they can collect evidence, establish where it was from [the narcotics] and was she planning to hand it over to someone.
“That’s what they said they want to establish, and they also confiscated her phone.”
If found guilty, Culley could land herself life behind bars (20 years). She would be housed in Georgia’s only women’s prison, Prison No.5.
She is being preliminarily detained until July 1 while investigations are ongoing.
What have officials said?
Culley also reportedly claimed that she was pregnant (Facebook)
As per The Independent, The Georgian interior ministry said in a statement: “B.K, born in 2006, is charged with illegally purchasing and storing a particularly large amount of narcotics, illegally purchasing and storing the narcotic drug marijuana, and illegally importing it into Georgia. The committed crime envisions up to 20 years – or life imprisonment.”
The British Foreign Office isn’t believed to have said much on the case other than that it is ‘supporting the family of a British woman who is detained in Georgia’.
Culley’s parents, Neil and Kerry Culley, arrived in Georgia on Wednesday (May 14), Mail Online reports, but they have been unable to see their daughter because of paperwork problems.
Featured Image Credit: Bella Culley/Handout
A young man who was found after disappearing for almost a decade is ‘nonverbal’, his family have said.
In 2015, Rudy Farias took his dogs for a walk and mysteriously vanished.
The then 17-year-old was reported missing after the two animals returned to their Texas home without their leads.
At the time, there was no explanation as to where he went or why, with a private investigator revealing that the teenager had suffered with depression in the past.
But a few days ago, he was found lying unresponsive outside a church and was later identified as the man who went missing eight years ago.
Confirming the news, the Texas Center for the Missing shared a post to Twitter, which read: “After 8 long years, Rudy has been located safe.
“Please continue to keep his family in your prayers as Rudy recovers in the hospital.”
Sharing an update on his condition, Farias’ family said that he was found with cuts and bruises, as well as blood in his hair.
Rudy Farias went missing in 2015.
Speaking to the Texas Center for the Missing, Farias’ mom, Janie Santana, said he is not talking.
“My son Rudy is receiving the care he needs to overcome his trauma, but at this time, he is nonverbal and not able to communicate with us,” she explained.
“We are asking for privacy during this difficult time but will share more details as Rudy continues to heal.”
No more information was shared with regards to his condition or where he had been for the fast few years.
While the circumstances surrounding his disappearance have yet to be confirmed, at the time it was reported that Farias had suffered with his mental health following the death of his older brother.
Speaking in April 2015, private investigator Brenda Paradise said: “He watched his best friend die right in front of him.
“His brother was his best friend in the world. He’s just gone through so much more than anyone his age ever should. This family has been through so much. Whatever happened, a mum needs answers about her son.”
During their investigation into his disappearance, police didn’t suspect any foul play.
Reacting to the news that he had been found, Texas EquuSearch director Tim Miller told KPRC that he couldn’t believe it, branding the news a ‘miracle’.
“How did this happen? We believe in miracles and this certainly was a miracle,” he said.
“I can’t even tell you how many times we searched and how many leads and tips came in and they just kind of faded away and now all of a sudden, this.”
The body of University of Missouri student Riley Strain has been found after he went missing following a visit to Luke Bryan’s bar.
Police launched a search for Strain after he was last seen leaving Luke’s 32 Bridge Food + Drink in downtown Nashville on March 8.
The 22-year-old student was originally from Missouri, but had been visiting Nashville and went to the bar with friends.
In a statement, the bar said that Strain had been served ‘one alcoholic drink and two waters’ at the bar before he was escorted out by security at around 9.35pm local time.
The bar claimed Strain was asked to leave based on its ‘conduct standards’.
Strain told his friends he would go back to the hotel where he was staying, but in an interview with WSMV, his stepfather Chris Whiteid said he never made it back to the hotel.
On March 14, Metro Nashville PD shared on X that its Urban Search & Rescue team had assembled to search for Strain along the brush line of the Cumberland River, where his bank card was discovered.
Today (March 22), the police department shared an update to say Strain’s body had been found in the river.
“BREAKING: The body of Riley Strain was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville this morning, approximately 8 miles from downtown,” the department wrote.
X/ Metro Nashville PD @MNPDNashville
It added that there was no indication of foul play, though an autopsy is yet to take place.
Prior to his disappearance, Strain was caught on security footage appearing to sway as he walked through the streets after leaving the bar. He appeared to stumble and even fall at one point.
He was last seen on video around 9:52pm, when he spoke briefly with an officer who was responding to a vehicle burglary on a sidewalk adjacent to the Cumberland River on Gay Street.
In the video, the officer asked Strain how he was doing, to which he replied: “I’m good, how are you?”
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
Strain’s mother, Michelle Whiteid, described her son as ‘everything’ in an interview which took place as the search was ongoing.
Whiteid added at the time that the family believed police were handling the case ‘well’.
“We know that there’s an excessive amount of information coming into them that they’re having to dissect,” he said. “Yes, as the days drag on, we are frustrated. We know they’re doing their job. We’ve seen what they’ve got.”
Police are set to share more details of the discovery of Strain’s body in a news conference at 9:45am CT.
Featured Image Credit: Whiteid and Gilbert Family / YouTube/NewsNation
