Student nurse Owami Davies has been missing for seven weeks
(Picture: Owami Davies)Student nurse Owami Davies has been missing from her hometown in Essex for seven weeks, sparking a major police investigation in London.
Here’s what we know so far.
The 24-year-old had been reaching the end of her nursing studies at King’s College London, when she vanished with barely a trace nearly 50 days ago.
Owami left her home in Grays, Essex, on July 4 - before she was last seen in Croydon two days later. Police have since launched a huge missing persons operation.
Officers say they are “still hopeful” of finding her alive and well but are growing increasingly concerned for Owami, who has no access to her phone or bank cards and no money left on her Oyster card.
She has experienced periods of depression in the past for which she needed medical treatment, and has also used alcohol to deal with the condition.
But her mum says she had been “really happy” prior to her disappearance. She had about two months left of her studies and had recently secured a job with Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital.
Five people have been arrested in connection with her disappearance – two on suspicion of murder and three on suspicion of kidnap – but they have all been bailed, and police say there is no evidence Owami has come to harm.
About 50 Met officers are currently working on the investigation with help from the National Crime Agency.
They are trawling through 117 reported sightings of her. Detectives say they are “open to all possibilities” and that one working hypothesis is Owami could be sleeping rough.
A timeline of events
July 4
Owami is last seen leaving her family home in Grays, Essex. She tells her mum, Nicol Davies, she is going to the gym.
Nicol tracks her daughter using the Find My iPhone app when she failed to arrive at the gym.
Owami’s 15-year-old brother goes to Chafford Gorges Nature Park in Grays, and finds her sitting on a bench drinking. He grows upset when she refuses to return to the family’s nearby home.
July 6
Owami’s family officially report her as missing to Essex Police after she fails to come home.
The same day, Owami is found asleep in a doorway in Clarendon Road, Croydon, where she is reportedly waiting for a friend.
Met Police officers attend the property after being called regarding concerns for her welfare, but she tells officers she does not need help and leaves.
Owami had not been marked as a missing person on the police database at this time, and the Met only later establish that the woman was Owami.
July 7
The last official sighting of Owami, as she is seen just after midnight in Derby Road, West Croydon, in south London.
CCTV shows Owami inside a shop, which she then leaves with a man.
July 11
Essex Police issues a proactive media appeal.
July 16
The force releases a second appeal which it then shares on Facebook three days later.
July 23
The investigation is officially transferred from Essex Police to the Met after it becomes clear a significant number of inquiries to find Owami have been in London.
July 31
The Met Police issues its first appeal for information on her whereabouts – now three weeks after she went missing.
August 1
The case is taken over by the Met’s specialist crime squad.
The force arrests two men, aged 23 and 27, in the Croydon area on suspicion of murder in relation to the investigation.
August 2
A third man, 32, is arrested on suspicion of murder in South Croydon.
August 3
Owami’s mother Nicol Davies appeals to the public, saying: “I am begging, I am asking for the public’s help, from the people, to say if you know, if you have heard or seen her, or she passed you, please speak up.”
Speaking at New Scotland Yard, she tells the PA news agency her daughter had been “really happy” before she went missing.
Appealing directly to her daughter, she adds: “Owami - if you see this appeal please believe you are not in any trouble, we just want you to come back to us. Pease leave a message if you can to let us know you are okay, we are so very worried about you.”
On the same day, a 22-year-old man is arrested at an address in Croydon on suspicion of murder.
August 5
Police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct receives a referral from the Met, relating to the contact officers had with Owami in Croydon on July 6.
August 6
Police make a fifth arrest as they detain a 27-year-old man on suspicion of kidnap.
August 9
The Met Police issues an update on the investigation, saying officers have searched houses and parks, viewed hundreds of hours of CCTV and conducted extensive door-to-door inquiries.
The force also reveals the five men arrested during the investigation have been released on bail.
August 16
Scotland Yard issues a fresh appeal saying Owami could be “in the local area and in need of help”.
August 18
British Transport Police (BTP) tweets that the 24-year-old could still be regularly taking trains, may appear dazed or confused and may be seeking to engage with women travelling alone.
The Met says in a statement: “Owami has been depressed and in the absence of her medication may use alcohol to relieve her depression.”
August 22
Detectives tell journalists Owami could be sleeping rough as they trawl through 117 reported sightings across the UK.
Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Penney said: “There is no evidence that she’s come to harm. We’re still hopeful that we’ll find her alive and well.”
Asked whether she could be sleeping rough, he said: “We’re open to all possibilities and that is one current working hypothesis.”
August 23
Owami was found “safe and well” in Hampshire almost eight weeks after she went missing, the Metropolitan Police has said.
