Fears are growing for a transgender woman who has been missing for a week.

Natasha Reddington-Romanov, 55, was last seen near Bateman Street, in London’s Soho, at about 2am on Saturday (21 September). She was reportedly wearing a white Chanel suit.

Close friend Tracy Kawalik told PinkNews that her disappearance was “out of character” and that she’s “never missed a day of work”.

Natasha had been to dinner with the owner of Trisha’s bar, in Chinatown, before going out for drinks. She was last seen after saying goodbye to friends at the Raincall bar before walking to catch a bus home. She “often walks” home if her phone had run out of battery, Kawalik said.

The police had been to her house near Old Kent Road, where she lives alone, but had not yet checked CCTV from around the area where she was last seen.

“She’s very street smart… I’ve been close friends with her for almost 12 years, and I’ve never known her to go home with anyone. It would have been very rare, I mean, completely impossible, that she would be somewhere for seven days and not contact anyone,” Kawalik went on to say.

“[The police] said they would make it a high priority, but they haven’t shown us any evidence of priority.”

Seeing CCTV could “give us an indication of where she was or what happened”, she added, before revealing that she had received several “abusive messages” since posting about Natasha’s disappearance on Twitter/X, which led her to fear that her friend could have been targeted in a “hate crime” because of her identity.

“I guess we’re all preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” Kawalik said. “I’m hoping she walks in with a cigarette in her hand and tells us all off for making such a fuss.

“We just love her so much. She protects everyone… she has always protected me, she’s an incredible person.”

PinkNews has contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment.