Charlotte Campbell had been waiting by the phone for a day when she finally got the news she had been dreading — her teenage daughter Olivia was among the 22 people killed in the bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Britain.
Olivia, 15, had been missing since the attack Monday night in the city of Manchester, where police say 22-year-old Salman Abedi detonated a bomb, killing himself and young concertgoers as they streamed out of the venue, buzzing from a fun night out.
“RIP my darling precious gorgeous girl Olivia Campbell taken far far too soon,” Charlotte Campbell posted on her Facebook page early Wednesday, confirming her daughter’s death.
She added, “go sing with the angels and keep smiling mummy loves you so much.”
Olivia was registered as missing person No. 13 in the hours after the bombing, an attack that has drawn condemnation and emotional responses from around the world as a heinous attack targeting young children and teenagers.
“We thought she would have just walked home by that point,” Charlotte told CNN on Tuesday.
Campbell said her daughter had called her earlier in the evening Monday to say how happy she was to be at the Manchester Arena as she waited for the US pop star to come on stage.
“She thanked me and said she loved me and that was the last I heard from her,” Campbell said earlier, verging on tears.
When she learned about the attack, Campbell notified the police, called local hospitals and, with the help of a friend, sent out descriptions of Olivia on Facebook and Twitter.
She was told to wait by the phone for news. Olivia’s step-father, Paul Hodgson, went out to look for her.
“Whatever it takes,” he had said Tuesday. “I’m going to find her … I’m going to bring her home.”
Olivia had gone to the concert with her friend Adam to celebrate his birthday, Hodgson said, adding that Olivia loved music and liked to sing herself.
Going to the Ariana Grande concert “was like a dream come true to her,” Hodgson said.