The boyfriend of missing clubber Sian O’Callaghan told today how he sent her a text saying ”I’m worried” when she failed to return home – but she never replied.
Quantity surveyor Kevin Reape, 25, sent the message at 3.24am because the pretty PA had still not made it back from a girls’ night out in Swindon, Wilts.
Mobile phone records show that her Nokia received the message 12 miles away from a mast in the remote Savernake Forest.
Detectives say her phone reached the forest within 30 minutes, suggesting she must have been driven to the area.
Her phone carried on receiving texts and phone calls in the area for next 12 hours until the battery went flat.
Sian was last seen leaving Japanese-themed nightclub Suju in Swindon on her own at 2.52am on Saturday morning.
Kevin, her boyfriend of two years, raised the alarm at 9.45am on Saturday morning when she had still not returned home to their flat half a mile from the club.
He broke down in tears yesterday as he revealed details of the last tragic text at a police press conference.
Kevin joined Sian’s mum Elaine, 48, dad Mich, 51, brother Liam, 24 and Lora, 19, to make a desperate appeal for information.
He sobbed: ”Sian has been missing now for over two days and it is not like her not to come home or contact for such a long time.
”We all want to know where Sian is and we want her home safely. She is a beautiful person who is instantly loved by everyone she meets.
”This is a terrible time for all of us and we are waiting for her safe return.
”We all just want to know that she is ok as it is breaking our hearts not to know where she is.”
Her brother Liam added: ”Sian means the world to us and we really just want her to come home.
”If anyone has information please contact the police and come forward.”
Sian began moving in with her boyfriend Kevin at the beginning of the year after gradually moving out of the family home in Swindon where she lived in with her mother.
On Friday night she went out for a meal with friends in Swindon’s Old Town – and walked the half a mile from the flat she shared with Kevin to meet pals.
The group headed to two nightclubs in Old Town before entering Suju, where Sian began chatting to other clubbers and became separated from her friends on the dance floor.
She exchanged a number of texts with Kevin throughout the evening but he was tired and did not respond to her final text asking: ”Where are you?”.
Kevin had enjoyed a day at Cheltenham Races and fell asleep shortly after returning to their home at around 10.30pm.
He texted her at 3.24am after realising she had not come home and desperately tried to contact her a further four to five times but recieved no response.
Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher said: ”My concern is to find Sian O’Callaghan as quickly as possible in order to ensure her safety in these circumstances.
”What we know is that on the evening of Friday 18 March Sian went out with friends in Old Town in Swindon and she left Suju at about ten to three on that Saturday morning.
”Her movements beyond that point are of concern as nor we, nor her family, nor her friends have been able to make contact with Sian since that time.”
Kevin is not a suspect and is being treated as a witness in the case, Det Supt Fulcher added.
”Everything indicates that she was in a happy relationship with Kevin and was supported her family,” he said.
Phone records show Sian’s phone picked up signal from a mast in Cadley in the Savernake Forest at 3.24am – 32 minutes after she left the club.
Detectives estimate it would take a car between 20 and 25 minutes to drive between the two sites at that time of the night.
The Cadley mast supplies a six and a half radius including the Savernake Forest, nearby Marlborough and Pewsey.
Sian’s phone continued to receive text messages and calls from frantic friends and family for the next 12 hours but officers were unable to narrow its location within the six mile radius.
Officers yesterday admitted it was a ”needle in a haystack” searching the vast forest for Sian, but said they were doing everything they could to track her down.
Chief Superintendent Steve Hendley said: ”From the outset we have provided support to the family.
”We are treating this very seriously and in addition to 60 officers from our force working on this case we are also using support from other neighbouring forces.
”We have increased our patrolling officers within the town.”
Wiltshire Constabulary has increased officers on the streets and drafted in teams from other forces to aid their investigation.
* Detectives are not linking Sian’s disappearance to that of a 17-year-old who vanished from a Wiltshire village on the same day Sian vanished.
Nicholas Marris was last seen walking from his village shop to the recreation ground in Shrewton – 40 miles from Swindon – on Saturday (19/3) afternoon.
No-one has seen or heard from the teenager since and his family have described his disappearance as ”out of character”.
My thoughts and prayers are with kevin and sian’s family, i do hope you find her xxx
Thoughts are with u Kevin and Sians family during this difficult time, from all your cousins in Ireland!
Really hope she’s found safe and well x
RIP Nick…you’re in a better place now. Hope Sian is found soon xx
RIP nick