AS the tattoo on her neck of the Playboy bunny ringed by the single green-inked word "Playgirl" illustrates, Paige Chivers was a teenager desperate to discover adulthood.

Today, more than three months after her disappearance, police are slowly giving up hope that the 15-year-old will be found alive.

Paige was last seen at her Blackpool home on August 23. The day before she went missing, Paige had a row with her father over the phone. She'd spent family cash that didn't belong to her. Her father, says Sergeant Jan Beasant, who is leading the inquiry into Paige's disappearance, "went ballistic". After the telephone call, police believe Paige walked out of her house with a small purple suitcase on wheels.

"It was a troubled family," says Beasant. Her mother died in February and Paige lived with her father, Frank, and brother, Jack.

After her disappearance, the facts that the police slowly pieced together about Paige's life point to a young girl mixing in an adult world far beyond her years.

Beasant says that, after leaving home, Paige went to the home of a 50-year-old man whom Paige had previously described as her "friend". "She had regularly gone to that man's address," said Beasant. "I do not view such a relationship as appropriate."

This "friend", who police do not wish to name at the moment, told Paige that she could not stay at his home. He says he walked her to a nearby bus stop and told her to go to a local drop-in hostel for troubled kids in Blackpool. She never arrived.

Police are also interested in a woman who describes herself as Paige's "best friend". The woman, aged 20, says she did not see Paige for two months prior to her disappearance. It was this woman who introduced Paige to the 50-year-old man.

"She's been interviewed and cannot give an account for why she hadn't seen Paige in months when they appeared to live in each other's pockets. I find it hard to swallow," said Beasant. The woman lives in a hostel.

All three lived what police described as "chaotic lives". Paige sometimes left Blackpool to spend days with older boys.

Some teenage acquaintances of Paige say they saw her at the bus-stop that afternoon, but Beasant is sceptical about their credibility. The 50-year-old man's house has been subjected to a forensic search.

Despite a £2000 reward offered for information on Paige's whereabouts, there has been little response. "This suggests she is no longer in Blackpool," Beasant said.

That leaves only a few possibilities: l She is being held against her will in Blackpool; l She has left the area but is well and happy; l She has left the area but is under threat.

Beasant added: "Paige was very troubled and angry after her mother died. Therefore, we have to take into consideration that she might even have taken her own life, or harmed herself or even fallen foul " Beasant breaks off her sentence. She adds that she is worried that, because leads are drying up, the inquiry will start to peter out.

Police are still, however, attempting to unravel how, if Paige is still alive, she might be supporting herself. Police say the only options open to such a young girl would be the drugs trade, theft or prostitution.

Paige's father, Frank, said: "We're incredibly worried about Paige and just want her to let us know she is OK. I want Paige to know she's not in any kind of trouble. Please let us know that you're safe, Paige, so we can get you back home."