disa is first seen in march 1990, in flashback scenes set from january. diane butcher has run away from home and is fending for herself living on the streets of london, where she befriends disa, a fellow teenage runaway. disa is working as a prostitute and tries to convince diane to follow the same path with the hope that they can raise the funds to share a flat together. diane cannot bring herself to do this however, but takes up nude modelling for an artist instead. eventually diane contacts her father frank (mike reid) and returns to walford, whilst a bedraggled disa remains living on the streets, begging and selling sex.