The Metropolitan Police has said 24-year-old Owami Davies is “safe and well” after being found in Hampshire following the 118th reported sighting by a member of the public.
The student nurse was last seen walking along London Road in West Croydon on 7 July. She had left her family home in Grays, Essex, three days earlier on 4 July and was reported missing two days later.
“This is the outcome we were all hoping and praying for,” said Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Penney. He added that his team were “immensely relieved” that Davies had been found, and thanked the media and public for sharing appeals to find the missing student.
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Commander Paul Brogden acknowledged that concerns had been raised about the police search. It emerged last weekend that the police had been in direct contact with Davies on 6 July, but were not aware at the time that she was a missing person because the central police database had not been updated.
Handling of case under ‘scrutiny’
The force’s handling of the case faced “increased scrutiny” when it became known that Scotland Yard had issued CCTV images which incorrectly identified another black woman as Davies, said The Guardian. “The Met hurriedly apologised and withdrew the images”.
Brogden and Penney said they were trying to “compassionately” deal with finding out how and why Davies disappeared. The police had been working through 50,000 hours of CCTV footage in an attempt to trace the student nurse’s movements.
Five people were arrested and bailed over Davies’s disappearance, two on suspicion of murder and three on suspicion of kidnap. The men remain on bail and officers have confirmed that “a decision on what happens next to them would follow a ‘full debrief’”, said the BBC.
The police said Davies appeared to be in “good health” and was in “a place of safety”, and confirmed that she had spoken to her family.
