The 13-year-old's body was tragically found after she vanished from her Southampton home, sparking a murder investigation.
Kerry Stark, 35, who lived across the road from Lucy's family for around seven years, revealed she saw the tragic teenager the day before she was reported missing.
Ms Stark said: "My son used to play with Lucy and her brother every day.
"They lived across the street for the best part of seven years, until they moved to Mansel Road East about 18 months ago.
"I last saw Lucy on July 23. She told me about having an older boyfriend, but she wouldn't tell me who."
She added: "Looking back now, I didn't probe her on that as much as maybe I could have. Of course, she's 13. To her, older could be 14, 15, 16 years old."
The teen had left her home to visit a friend before her body was found two miles away on July 26. She had been stabbed to death.
Police since revealed the CCTV of the last confirmed sighting of Lucy on the day she disappeared.
It shows her walking past Tesco at 9.30am, close to the sports centre where she was found dead less than 24 hours later.
Detectives investigating the 13-year-old’s death think they might find clues in the private messages of prime suspect – family friend Stephen Nicholson – but Facebook bosses would not reveal his password.
The 24-year-old has twice declined to hand over his log-in details – despite allegedly being in contact with Lucy on the morning of her disappearance.
Officers have been forced to apply to judges in the US for a court order demanding that the American firm hand over the information – a process that could delay their murder probe for months.
Grieving Stacey White, 30, whose daughter was stabbed to death six weeks ago and her body dumped in woodland in Southampton, says the internet giant was denying her justice.
A Facebook spokesman said: "This is a terrible case and our hearts go out to the family of Lucy McHugh.
"We are working closely with law enforcement and there are well established legal mechanisms that the police follow to obtain information in criminal investigations like this."
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