Student nurse Owami Davies has been found "safe and well" in Hampshire more than seven weeks after she went missing, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Ms Davies, 24, was last seen walking north along London Road, Croydon on July 7 and concerns had been growing for her safety.
The Met said Ms Davies had been found “as a result of a call to police from someone who had seen media appeals”.
They said the call was the 118th reported sighting officers had received and was made at 10.30am on Tuesday.
Detectives said she appears “fit and well cared for” and her family have been informed. They have spoken to her.
Officers will speak to Ms Davies more fully in due course about her welfare.
Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Penney, the the Met’s Specialist Crime, said: “This is the outcome we were all hoping and praying for.
“My team have been working around to clock to find Owami and we are immensely relieved she has been found.
“I would like to sincerely thank the media and public for sharing appeals to find Owami.
“Your help in cases like this is crucial and we are very grateful. I’d like to also thank colleagues at Essex Police for their invaluable assistance during this investigation.
“I would now politely request that the privacy of Owami and her family are respected at this time.”
Commander Paul Brogden added: “We know there have been concerns raised around the search for Owami.
“We, alongside our colleagues in Essex Police, will be carrying out a review of all our actions from when Owami was first reported missing to ensure we have acted correctly and to identify any ways to improve our response to finding other missing people.”
Despite the arrests of five people and numerous appeals for information, officers were struggling to locate Ms Davies as they trawled through 117 other reported sightings.
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.
This was one working hypothesis, the Met said, adding that officers were keeping an open mind to all possibilities.
But after a member of the public responded to a media appeal, they were able to locate her on Tuesday.
Ms Davies left her family home in Chafford Hundred, Grays, Essex on July 4 having told her mother she was going to the gym.
Nicol Davies, 46, tracked her daughter using the Find My iPhone app when she failed to arrive at the gym.
Owami’s 15-year-old brother went to Chafford Gorges Nature Park and found her sitting on a bench drinking. He grew upset when she refused to return to the family’s nearby home.
Owami 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 brothers.”
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 the men were released and are still on police bail, with a decision on what will happen next following a “full debrief”.
Mr Penney added the Met will speak to Ms Davies and try to establish what led to her disappearance.
“Owami will be spoken to and we’ll try to fathom reasons as to how she disappeared, why she disappeared, and if there was any concern around the days and weeks while she was disappeared for us to be concerned about,” he said.
Asked whether Ms Davies was aware of the scale of the search for her, the officer said he believed she “probably was” given the amount of publicity the case attracted.
Mr Brogden added: “Obviously we’ll be dealing compassionately with Owami from this point onwards, with partner agencies, but great news here.”
