The mother of Owami Davies has revealed the student nurse spoke to her younger brother on the day she disappeared seven weeks ago but refused his help.
Nicol Davies, 46, had tracked the 24-year-old using the Find My iPhone app when she failed to arrive at her local gym.
Owami’s 15-year-old sibling went to Chafford Gorges Nature Park in Grays, Essex and found her sat on a bench drinking.
But he became upset when she wouldn’t return to the family’s nearby home in Chafford Hundred on July 4. She was reported missing to Essex Police two days later.
Detectives believe Ms Davies could be sleeping rough as they trawl through 117 reported sightings across the UK.
She was last seen in Croydon on July 7 and has no money left on her Oyster card, used to pay on public transport, and no access to her phone or bank cards.
Metropolitan Police officers found her asleep in a doorway in Clarendon Road, Croydon on July 6, but she told them she did not need help and left.
Owami, who had experienced periods of depression in the past for which she needed medical treatment, also used alcohol to deal with the condition.
Her mother said Owami had never been away from home for more than three days but this was “the longest, most painful time”.
Usually, if she was feeling down Owami would stay in a hotel and then ring a family member to collect her.
Mother-of three Ms Davies told the Standard of the day Owami disappeared: “It felt a little strange. Later when I became concerned, I used the Find My iPhone app which is something I do with all of them. I was curious where she was and she wasn’t at the gym.
“She was actually at the Gorges, it’s a little park next to our house. I realised she had gone there.
“I didn’t follow, her brother did and managed to find her sitting at a bench just having a drink. They had a little chat. According to him, he asked her to come home, like ‘Let’s go home, it’s enough now’.
“At that time, that’s when they separated because she didn’t want to come home. She just said she wanted some down time. Normally when she does that, we understand. It did upset her brother at the time.”
Officers said that Owami used different names, but would not reveal what they were.
Five people have been arrested and bailed in connection with her disappearance – two on suspicion of murder and three on suspicion of kidnap – but police say there is no evidence that she has come to harm.
During a briefing with journalists yesterday, Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Penney said: “We’re still hopeful that we’ll find her alive and well.”
Asked whether she could be sleeping rough, he added: “We’re open to all possibilities and that is one current working hypothesis, that she is in that current situation with her life.”
Met officers who spoke to Owami last month did not yet know that she was a missing person.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is considering whether to investigate the police contact.
Around 50 officers are currently working on the investigation, and they are getting advice from the National Crime Agency.
When asked if he had the confidence of Owami’s family, DCI Penny added: “Mum, aunts and her two siblings maintain faith in us that we are doing everything we can to find Owami. They will do anything within their powers to help us.
“My officers are working around the clock and they will continue to do so.”
