Police investigating 117 reported sightings of missing nursing student Owami Davies

Police are investigating 117 reported sightings of missing student Owami Davies amid suspicions she may be sleeping rough.

The last confirmed sighting of the 24-year-old from Essex was in Croydon, south London, on July 7 and she has been missing for more than six weeks.

There were five people arrested in connection with her disappearance, but a senior police officer working on the investigation said on Monday there was “no evidence that she was harmed”.

Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Penney told reporters: “We remain hopeful that we will find her alive and well.”

Asked if she could be sleeping rough, he said: “We’re open to all possibilities and that’s a current working hypothesis, that she’s in that current situation with her life.”

Ms Davies left her home in Grays, Essex, on July 4 and was reported missing to Essex Police two days later.

She was found asleep in a doorway in Clarendon Road in Croydon on July 6 while waiting for a friend, but told Metropolitan Police officers she did not need help and left.

The officers who spoke to her did not yet know she was a missing person.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police watchdog, is considering whether to investigate police contact with Ms Davies that day.

He is believed to have run out of money on his Oyster card, used to pay on public transport and has no access to his phone or bank cards.

Around 50 officers are currently working on the investigation and are receiving advice from the National Crime Agency.