Met spoke to nurse and let her go hours before she vanished
Scotland Yard could face investigation after it emerged officers spoke to a student nurse just hours before she went missing six weeks ago.
Police had a conversation with owami davies, 24, in south london on July 6 after being called over concerns for the welfare of a young woman.
the officers phoned an ambulance but the woman declined assistance and left, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said.
Miss davies, who is studying nursing at King’s college london, had been reported missing to Essex Police earlier that day, but the force had yet to add her name to the police national computer, a source said.
Met officers did not confirm that it was Miss davies they had spoken to until a week later, on July 13.
the matter has been referred to the police watchdog, the Independent office for Police conduct (IoPc), which is assessing whether to carry out a full investigation. Body camera footage of the encounter is being shared with Miss davies’s family, a Met spokesman said.
Miss davies, from Grays, Essex, left her family home on July 4 and was spotted on cctV in a shop just after midnight on July 7 – hours after her conversation with Met Police. She was also seen with an unidentified man round the corner from West croydon train station in the early hours of July 7 – but hasn’t been seen since that day.
Her mother nicol davies has made a series of appeals to the public to help find her daughter. She said: ‘this is such a terrible time for all those who love owami and I am pleading for anyone who can help find her to contact police. Every day we hope to hear the news that owami is coming back to us, your help might make it so.’
the student nurse was coming to the end of her studies and had secured a job with Guy’s and St thomas’ health trust, having worked on a&E wards during the pandemic.
Five people have been arrested in connection with her disappearance – two on suspicion of murder and three on suspicion of kidnap – but have since been released on bail pending further investigation. a spokesman
for Scotland Yard said: ‘on Wednesday, July 6, officers were called to clarendon Road, croydon.
‘there were concerns for the welfare of a woman at the location. officers attended and called the london ambulance Service, but the woman stated she did not want assistance and left.
‘at the time of the call, owami was not marked as a missing person on national police systems. She had only been reported to her local force as missing earlier the same day.
‘as a result of the subsequent missing person investigation, it was later confirmed – on July 13 – that the woman officers had spoken to was owami. the Met’s directorate of Professional Standards (dPS) were consulted and... the IoPc were informed.’
the officers involved are not subject to any current dPS investigation.
a spokesman for Essex Police said the force passed the investigation to the Met on July 23 as it was believed she was likely to be in london.
‘A terrible time for those who love her’