The search for the missing Swindon woman Sian O'Callaghan has taken a dramatic twist after police announced that a man arrested over her disappearance had told them the location of two bodies.

The search for the missing Swindon woman Sian O'Callaghan has taken a dramatic twist after police announced that a man arrested over her disappearance had told them the location of two bodies.

Police said a 47-year-old man initially held on suspicion of kidnapping O'Callaghan, 22, had directed them to her body. The suspect was being questioned by police.


Sian O'Callaghan. Photograph: Wiltshire police/PA
Police have been carrying out forensic searches at a house in Swindon, as well as two other locations: Savernake forest in Wiltshire, where O'Callaghan's phone is known to have been taken after she vanished early on Saturday, and another site in Oxfordshire, about 20 miles from Swindon.

Police announced at midday that they had arrested a man on suspicion of kidnapping O'Callaghan.

At a 5pm press conference Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, who is leading the inquiry, said: "A 47-year-old man from Swindon is in custody having been arrested for kidnap and two murders. The location of two bodies have been identified to me by this individual, one of whom has yet to be identified formally, but I am quite clear is Sian.

"I have informed Sian's family, who are obviously deeply distressed, and I would ask you please to give them time and space to come to terms with what's happened."

O'Callaghan disappeared after leaving the Suju nightclub in the Old Town area of Swindon at 2.52am on Saturday morning. She was expected to walk the half mile to the flat she shared with boyfriend Kevin Reape, 25, but did not make it and was reported missing a few hours later.

At 3.24am Reape sent a text message to her mobile phone. Checks revealed it was in the Savernake Forest area near Marlborough, 12 miles from home, when the message was received. Police said she could only have covered the distance in a vehicle.

Members of the public initially helped police comb the thick woodland but were asked to stay away after the phone records came to light.

Police on Thursday appealed for sightings of a green Toyota Avensis estate with taxi markings seen between 3am and 4am and 12pm to 9pm last Saturday between Swindon and Savernake.

Within minutes they had made further appeals for people to look out for O'Callaghan's handbag and its contents including her keys, lip gloss and a yellow Kinder Surprise egg containing a furry animal toy.

Just after 11am police were seen swooping on a green Toyota Avensis in an Asda car park in Swindon. Witnesses described a man being handcuffed and driven off by officers before the vehicle was towed away.

By mid-afternoon a white police tent was set up in the front garden of a semi-detached house on Ashbury Avenue in Swindon and officers were searching the house.

Before the bodies were found O'Callaghan's family had thanked members of the public who helped in the search for "our beautiful girl" and said they continued to pray she was alive.

Fulcher, the investigating officer in charge, said: "The public and the media have been a fantastic help in the desperate effort to find Sian over the last few days. This has of course been a fast-paced inquiry.

"Having found these bodies you will appreciate that I am under extreme pressure to undertake certain actions and procedures, and I would ask you to give me some time to enable me to recover these bodies with the dignity and respect that they deserve."

After initial reports that two bodies have been found, police said in a statement: "Wiltshire police would like to make it clear that while the location of two bodies has been identified to the senior investigating officer, only one body has currently been found and this is believed to be Sian O'Callaghan.

"The second body has yet to be recovered."