20-year-old Francesca Zammit was found "alive and well", her father said on Friday afternoon.

In a post uploaded to Facebook, Frank Zammit said he had just been contacted by the Paola police station and informed his daughter was found.

The police had issued a missing person notice on Friday morning, saying she was last seen in Luqa and asking people to come forward with any information on her whereabouts.

"I have just received a telephone call from inspector Antonello Magri at the Paola police station and he told me my daughter was found alive and well," Zammit wrote.

He thanked other police officers who joined the search operation, police commissioner Angelo Gafa "for his interest in the case" and hundreds of friends who reached out to the family with words of courage, including Prime Minister Robert Abela and politicians from both parties.

Zammit is Malta's Ambassador to the Holy See and is a long-time diplomat and expert in papal history and matters of the Vatican and the Catholic Church.

In a statement issued shortly afterwards, the police confirmed the young woman was found and thanked the public for their information and help.