Missing beauty queen, 17, with face illness, is found after mother's desperate appeal

Kovi Dunbar, 17, who suffers from a condition that paralyses her face, was "safe and well", police reported.

Last night her distraught mother, Cynthia Langeveldt, made a desperate plea for her daughter to get in touch and said her daughter was finding it difficult to cope with Bell's Palsy.

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Tonight she said she had yet to see her daughter.

"As far as I know she is in a police station and we are going there now," she said.

"I'm really relieved. I've been saying prayers with my children on the journey and we thank God that she has been found safe."

She added: "I think I'm going to pass out when I see her. I'm emotional and happy but nervous at the same time."

Kovi's condition can lead to an inability to control facial muscles and can make them appear distorted - and had caused her face to droop.

GP surgery practice manager Ms Langeveldt, 39, said her daughter had been bullied at school about her condition, which doctors say they are unable to treat.

She said: "When she has an attack it looks like she has had a stroke. It lasts for about two weeks and then goes back to normal.

"The first time it happened she went to school and the kids started teasing her about it.

"It was so bad the teachers had to send her home."

She added: "On a monthly basis Kovi gets facial paralysis for two weeks at a time and she's found it really difficult to cope with."

The condition was diagnosed two and a half years ago, soon after Kovi came to live in Cwmbran, South Wales, from Zimbabwe.

According to the Bell's Palsy Association, symptoms of the condition include a drooping mouth and slurred speech.

It affects 25 people in 100,000 and in most cases disappears after a few months.

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According to the Bell's Palsy Association website, symptoms often disappear after a few weeks but a small percentage of sufferers never fully recover.

Famous people who have suffered episodes of Bell's Palsy include actors Pierce Brosnan and George Clooney, former Goodie Graeme Garden, ex-Emmerdale actress Glenda McKay and Jean Chretien, who was Canadian prime minister from 1993 to 2003.

After Kovi developed Bell's Palsy her mother secretly entered her in a beauty competition to boost her confidence.

She went on to represent Wales in the final of Miss Teen UK and Miss Teen Britain last year and is due to appear in the Miss Teen Commonwealth contest in July.

The schoolgirl said last year: "I was very surprised to find out that I made it to the finals and was really shocked to find out I'd made it through in all three."

Kovi is said to have dreams of being a model and is signed to three modelling agencies.

She is thought, however, to be worried about the effect of her condition on her looks.

Police believe Kovi stayed with a friend in Croydon, London, after leaving her home but she has since gone missing from that address.

She was last seen wearing a black shortsleeved T-shirt, blue jeans, a grey tracksuit top and a black parka jacket with grey fur and orange lining.

She left her home in Cwmbran, south Wales, at 1.30pm on Wednesday April 2 to go to the Croydon area of London to visit a friend. She later disappeared.

Miss Dunbar is described as of mixed race appearance with long black hair, brown eyes and a fresh complexion.

The teenager is slim and approximately 5ft 10ins tall. She speaks with a South African accent as she formerly lived in Zimbabwe.

A Gwent Police spokesman said yesterday: "She is a striking girl who would stand out in a crowd - we are asking people to keep a look out for her."

"If anyone has any information about Kovi's whereabouts, they are asked to call Gwent Police on 01633 838 111."