Hunt for mystery man in Bella Culley's cryptic posts as teen banged up in Georgia

Police are reportedly searching for a mystery man who could hold the answer to 18-year-old Bella Culley's arrest for smuggling 14kg of marijuana into Georgia. The student nurse, from Billingham, County Durham, told friends and family that she was planning to meet a man in the Philippines before flying out to Asia on a backpacking holiday. Her family reported her missing when they lost contact with her after a change of plans saw her fly to Thailand, and the 18-year-old surfaced at Tbilisi airport in Georgia last week, facing a long-term jail sentence for drug smuggling.

Culley regularly documented her travels on social media prior to the arrest, and authorities have spotted a recurring male stranger in her videos and photos - though his identity appears to have been obscured. It also emerged this week that she had met a group of young men from northwest England in Thailand before being reported missing on Saturday.

Her social media posts also referenced the American outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, with one TikTok accompanied by the caption: "Blonde or brunette? Erm, how about we get up to criminal activities side by side like Bonnie n Clyde making heavy figures and f***ing on balconies all over the world".

Culley's grandfather William, 80, revealed on Thursday that before travelling to Thailand, his granddaughter had spent time in the Philippines with a man called "Ross or Russ".

He told The Sun: "She went to the Philippines to see somebody, a lad there, who she used to go out with a couple of years ago, who was working out there.

"She said, 'I'm going on my own, but I'm meeting Ross out there. Or Russ, I'm not sure what his name is. He was working out there for his father's company or something - but now I wonder if what she told me was true."

A family friend also told the newspaper that they thought the 18-year-old had been "completely exploited" after getting caught up with British drug dealers while backpacking.

"I'd put money on them being drug runners," the source said. "There was a lad from Darlington she was with too. He's a drug runner - I know he is.

"This is totally out of character for her. I know, because she's a close friend of my daughter. She's just an 18-year-old. She's not some hardened criminal.

"To then suddenly go from the Philippines to Thailand seems strange to me. Her dad's in bits. Her family's in bits. She's a victim."

The teenager, who told the court that she was pregnant at the end of a pre-trial hearing, could face up to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment if found guilty of illegally buying, possessing and importing large quantities of narcotics.