Missing student nurse Owami Davies found outside London area after huge police search

Missing student nurse Owami Davies found outside London area after huge police search
23 Aug Owami
Tom Evans

By Tom Evans


Published: 23/08/2022

- 16:47

Updated: 23/08/2022

- 17:35

Owami Davies has been found safe and well outside of the London area following a huge police missing person search

Ms Davies has been found in Hampshire almost eight weeks after she went missing, the Metropolitan Police have said.

Ms Davies, 24, was last seen walking north along London Road in Croydon on July 7 and concerns had been growing for her safety.


On Tuesday, Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Penney said: “This is clearly the outcome we were hopeful for – the finding of the missing lady, Owami Davies.

“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.”

Handout CCTV image issued by Metropolitan Police of Owami Davies walking north on London Road, Croydon, Thursday July 7
Handout CCTV image issued by Metropolitan Police of Owami Davies walking north on London Road, Croydon, Thursday July 7
Metropolitan Police

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.

Despite the arrests of five people and numerous appeals for information, officers were struggling to locate Ms Davies.

The struggle came despite them trawling through 117 reported sightings of the 24-year-old.

Detectives said on Monday that Ms Davies could be sleeping rough, with no money on her Oyster card and no access to her phone or bank cards.

Student nurse Owami Davies has been found
Student nurse Owami Davies has been found
Metropolitan Police

But after a member of the public responded to a media appeal, they were able to locate her on Tuesday.

Ms Davies had last been seen on July 7 after leaving her family home in Grays, Essex on July 4 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 Ms Davies had not been marked as a missing person on the police database at that time.

Mr Brogden said this would be among the aspects of the case to be looked at in the review of the investigation.

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.”

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 on Tuesday that all five were released and are still on police bail, with a decision on what will happen next following a “full debrief”.

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