Mother's plea to find son missing for six months

Ali Durrani has been missing for six months

A mother has made an emotional plea for help in finding her son six months after he disappeared.

Ali Durrani, 32, of Stirchley, Birmingham, was last seen on 6 February in the Northfield area of the city.

At a police press conference on Tuesday, his mother Mahjabeen Durrani said the family had no leads on what had happened.

Supt Susan Mabbett, from West Midlands Police, said Mr Durrani was last seen on CCTV at 17:30 GMT on Middlemore Road, Turves Green, at the same time as a woman with a young child and a black and white dog. She urged the woman to contact police.

'Heavy heart'

Mrs Durrani said: "We are longing to see our beautiful child. What happened on that day and why is he still not found?"

She said her son, an economics graduate, had links to Luton, Milton Keynes, Coventry and Nuneaton, where he used to work. He also used to travel to London to see family and friends.

He had been looking for work when he went missing, she said.

Describing him as someone who enjoyed coffee shops, book stores, walking, museums and seeing family, she said he was "an intelligent and articulate young man".

Mr Durrani had anxiety and may have sought help from alternative health practitioners in the Ilford area, she said.

She added: "With a heavy heart I'm appealing to the public, do you know anything?"

Mrs Durrani, pictured with her son, is asking the public for help

Supt Mabbett said detectives had carried out an extensive investigation, using drone teams and specialist search officers, and had worked with British Transport Police and West Midlands Fire Service.

Officers had reviewed hundreds of hours of CCTV, she said, but police had not recovered Mr Durrani's phone.

The device, a light-coloured iPhone 12, was last active in the area of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, on 7 February.

Supt Mabbett said: "If you think you may have come across it and you now have Ali's phone, we'd be really grateful if you reach out to West Midlands Police."

Police have released pictures of the missing man

Mr Durrani - who has a birthday at the end of August - is of medium build, with black hair and a black beard. He was last seen wearing a green raincoat with black jeans and lace-up brown shoes.

The family have launched a social media campaign asking for information, with their TikTok videos racking up tens of thousands of views.