Student nurse Owami Davies is found ‘safe and well’ in Hampshire

On Aug 23, 2022

Student nurse Owami Davies has been found ‘safe and well’ in Hampshire more than seven weeks after she went missing, the Metropolitan Police have said – after Scotland Yard revealed they received reports of 118 sightings.

Miss Davies, 24, was last seen walking north along London Road in Croydon on July 7 after leaving her family home in Grays, Essex three days earlier, having told her mother she was going to the gym.

She was found asleep in a doorway in Clarendon Road, Croydon on July 6 while waiting for a friend, but told Metropolitan Police officers that she did not need help and left.

Her family had reported her disappearance but Miss Davies had not been marked as a missing person on the police database at that time.

Detectives said yesterday that the student nurse could be sleeping rough, with no money on her Oyster card and no access to her phone or bank cards. This was one working hypothesis, the Met said, adding that officers were keeping an open mind to all possibilities.

Despite the arrests of five people and numerous appeals for information, officers were struggling to locate Miss Davies as they trawled through nearly 120 reported sightings of the 24-year-old. The 118th report, made in response to a media appeal by a member of the public, at 10.30am today was the one which led to her being found.

Today, Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Penney from the force’s Specialist Crime Command said: ‘This is clearly the outcome we were hopeful for – the finding of the missing lady, Owami Davies.

Student nurse Owami Davies, who has been found ‘safe and well’ in Hampshire

The Met Police has confirmed its officers spoke to Miss Davies in Croydon on July 6, two days after she went missing

Missing student nurse Owami Davies (pictured), 24, has been found in Hampshire, in a fit and well condition

‘I’d like to say she has been found safe and well outside the London area in the county of Hampshire and she’s currently with specialist officers from my team.’

He added: ‘She looks in good health, she’s in a place of safety, and not currently in the vulnerable state that we were led to believe she was in at the start of her disappearance.’

Met Commander Paul Brogden said ‘all aspects’ of the investigation are now to be reviewed to assess whether there is ‘any learning that we need to take’ from how it was handled.

Both Mr Brogden and Mr Penney said they were ‘ecstatic’ at the outcome of the case, with the Met Commander adding: ‘More importantly I’m pleased for Owami’s mother and her brother.’

Owami was last seen in Croydon on July 7, with this CCTV image showing her walking north on London Road shortly after midday

Five people were arrested and bailed in connection with her disappearance – two on suspicion of murder and three on suspicion of kidnap – but police said there was no evidence that she had come to harm.

Officers confirmed today that all five were released and are still on police bail, with a decision on what will happen next following a ‘full debrief’.

How police investigations to find missing Owami Davies have unfolded

– July 4: Miss Davies leaves her family home in Grays, Essex, telling her mother she is going to the gym.

– July 6: Her family officially report her as missing to Essex Police.

Separately, the Metropolitan Police are called to an address on Clarendon Road, Croydon, to concerns over the welfare of a woman. Officers attend, call the London Ambulance Service and speak to the woman. She tells them she does not want help and leaves the address before the ambulance service can attend.

Miss Davies 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 the 24-year-old as a result of their missing person investigation.

– July 7: Miss Davies is last seen just after midnight on Derby Road, West Croydon, in south London.

– July 11: Essex Police make an investigative decision to issue 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 Metropolitan Police after it becomes clear a significant number of inquiries to locate Miss Davies have been in London.

– July 31: The Met Police issue their first appeal for information on her whereabouts – now three weeks after she went missing.

– August 1: 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 at an address in South Croydon.

– August 3: Miss Davies’ 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 says her daughter was ‘really happy’, had about two months left of her studies and recently secured a job with Guy’s and St Thomas’. On the same day, a 22-year-old man is arrested at an address in Croydon on suspicion of murder.

– August 5: The Independent Office for Police Conduct receives a referral from the Metropolitan Police Service in relation to the contact officers had with Owami Davies 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 issue an update on the investigation, saying that officers have searched houses and parks, viewed hundreds of hours of CCTV and conducted extensive door-to-door inquiries. The force also reveals that the five men arrested during the course of the investigation have been released on bail.

– August 16: Scotland Yard issue a fresh appeal saying Miss Davies could be ‘in the local area and in need of help’.

– August 18: British Transport Police (BTP) tweet that the 24-year-old could still regularly be taking trains, may appear dazed or confused and may be seeking to engage with women travelling alone. The Metropolitan Police say in a statement: ‘Owami has been depressed and in the absence of her medication may use alcohol to relieve her depression.’

– August 20: The Met Police confirm to the media that their officers came into contact with Miss Davies at the address in Clarendon Road, Croydon, on July 6. The IOPC also confirms it has received a referral over the matter, is assessing the material and is considering whether further action is required.

– August 22: The Met Police there is ‘no evidence that she’s come to harm’ and detectives are ‘still hopeful that we’ll find her alive and well’. They add that she could be sleeping rough. It is confirmed that she has no money left on her Oyster card, used to pay on public transport, and no access to her phone or bank cards.

– August 23 Owami is found safe and well in Hampshire