Isla Bell’s loved ones to hire private investigator

The loved ones of a young woman missing from Melbourne have raised more than $10k to hire a private investigator as the one month mark of her disappearance approaches.

Isla Bell was last seen leaving her Brunswick home in Melbourne’s north about 6pm on October 4.

Police are concerned for the 19-year-old’s welfare given she’s been missing nearly a month, with the case now referred to officers from the Fawkner Crime Investigation Unit.

A police spokesperson previously said Ms Bell may have travelled into the Melbourne CBD.

A fundraiser has been set up following Ms Bell’s disappearance, with a Facebook page dedicated to finding her revealing loved ones are set to hire a private investigator with the money.

“This morning we achieved our $10,000 fundraising goal and we could not be more grateful,” a post to the Facebook page on Wednesday read.

“If you donated you single handedly have had a huge role in helping to bring Isla home and we could never thank you enough

“We are now able to hire a private investigator and they will hopefully be able to give us some more answers and help locate Isla.”

The page has thanked police for trying to bring Ms Bell home, as well as the community for reporting possible sightings.

“We are honestly blown away by the generosity, support, and love we have received and are so grateful for this community,” the post read.

“Isla has been missing for 25 days and each day gets harder without our beautiful firecracker of a girl but we refuse to lose hope of finding her and bringing her back home.”

The page has been set up by Ms Bell’s paternal family, with a post noting her mother, Justine Spokes, isn’t involved in the page.

“Isla’s mother and maternal side of the family are not involved in this page at the time my posting this. Yet they are doing amazing work to help find Isla in other ways,” the post, written by Ms Bell’s uncle Tom Hope, stated.

Ms Spokes has also confirmed she isn’t involved in the page on her own Facebook page.

“Yesterday I unknowingly sent out an invitation to you all to the ‘Help Us Find Isla Bell’ page not knowing it was for fund-raising. I did not authorise this and I am not behind it,” the post read.

“All leads and inquiries should be sent to Crime Stoppers or Fawkner Police. I have 100% faith in the polices investigation. Funding is not needed to support this investigation.

“Please be aware that any information shared to the media that has not been authorised by police will jeopardise the investigation and potentially Isla’s safety.”

Ms Spokes previously urged people to contact police if they believe they’ve seen her daughter, who is “dearly missed.”

“She leaves an impression, she’s hard to forget,” Ms Spokes wrote on social media.

“She has a fighting spirit, sometimes it’s loud and sometimes it’s soft, always enduring.

“We’re here for you bub.

“I love you my care bear.

“If your gut feeling tells you a situation is off, it’s because it usually is – please speak out and say something.

“Keeping our communities safe is everyone’s business.”

She is described as being of slim build with red wavy hair, pale complexion and nose, lip and eyebrow piercings.

She’s about 160cm tall with a large tattoo on her right leg and small tattoos on her left wrist, thumb and ring finger.

Ms Bell also reportedly has significant scarring on her arms.