Zelenak’s stepfather says the family has had no information about the 21-year-old since the terrorist attack on Saturday night

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Fears are growing for missing Brisbane woman Sara Zelenak, who became separated from friends at the scene of the London Bridge terrorism attack.



A Facebook post by a family friend shared hundreds of times on Monday appealed for information about the 21-year-old, saying she usually rang her mother daily.

Zelenak’s stepfather, Mark Wallace, said from Brisbane that British authorities had been unable to shed any light on where she was following the attack on Saturday night UK time.

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“I feel terrible, I can’t think,” he told News Corp. “I’ve contacted every hospital in London but they can’t give out patient details or even tell us if she has been admitted.”

Wallace said Zelenak’s mother, Julie Wallace, was flying to London to try to find her daughter. Zelenak had moved to London in March to work as an au pair.

Wallace said she had been planning to babysit the night of the attacks but at the last minute the children’s grandmother stepped in, so she went out with friends.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman in London said police had not yet released the names of the dead or injured and he could not help with a specific inquiry about Zelenak.

“We are trying to locate people as best we can.”

The spokesman said a casualty bureau had been set up to assist people trying to find family members who might have been caught up in the attacks.

Seven people were killed and 48 wounded when three men launched the attack just after 10pm on Saturday local time. Police shot the three terrorists dead within eight minutes of the violence erupting.

On Monday the Queensland families of two other Australians caught up in the attacks – Brisbane’s Candice Hedge and Darwin electrician Andrew Morrison – were taking comfort in news they were OK.

Hedge, 34, underwent emergency surgery but is expected to make a full recovery after her attackers missed her windpipe and arteries.

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“She can’t think how she got so lucky because she thought she was going to die,” her grandfather Brian, who lives in Queensland’s Darling Downs, said after speaking to her by phone on Monday morning.

“She said ‘grandad you know I’m a Hedge and I’m a fighter, I’ll get over this’,” he said.

Morrison was due to arrive back in Australia on Tuesday after receiving stitches for a stab wound he received while leaving a bar after watching the Champions League final.

He said he believed a brawl was breaking out when “all of a sudden a guy comes up with a knife ... stabs me there [motioning to his neck] I push him off and blood is going everywhere”.

Morrison’s Gold Coast-based father Dave told reporters “it could have been worse, a lot worse”.

Malcolm Turnbull said on Monday the government had “very real concerns” for two other unnamed Australians. The prime minister would not divulge details and it’s not known if one of them is Zelenak.



