Student nurse Owami Davies is still missing as family plead for help

Owami Davies


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At 11:30 on 20 August 2022, updates on Owami Davies were added to this article in the form of tweets from journalist Lorraine King.

Owami Davies, last seen in Croydon, may still be alive five weeks after her disappearance. Police say she was last seen in Croydon, and her family and friends are pleading for her safe return.

Owami’s mum, Nicol Davies, has said:

It is obvious that someone out there has seen something, someone out there knows something, someone out there heard something.

I am begging, I am asking for the public’s help, from the people, to say if you know, if you have heard or seen her, or she passed you, please speak up. All we really want is to find her, all we really need is for her to come home or to know her whereabouts.

Police investigation

Journalist Lorraine King, who has been following up on Owami’s story, said:

Read on...

Five people have been arrested and released on bail awaiting further investigation. Two were arrested on suspicion of murder, and three on suspicion of kidnap.

King posed essential questions about the police investigation:

Social media users have noted that the search for Owami hasn’t had much coverage in mainstream media.

Anti-Blackness

Heartbreakingly, Black women repeatedly don’t get the same treatment that missing white women do. Feminist group Sisters Uncut pointed out as much:

Comedian Judi Love said:

One person pointed out that London is the most surveilled city in Europe so it seems unlikely there’s been no other sightings of Owami:

Back in 2021, The Canary’s Sophia Purdy-Moore argued that institutions are failing missing Black people. She said:

The police and government need to take urgent action to address the serious disparities in disappearance rates for Black people in Britain.

The organisation Missing Black People states that 14% of all missing people in England and Wales between 2019 and 2020 were Black people. The last available census data from 2011 shows that in England and Wales only 3.4% of the population were Black. Black people disproportionately go missing, and we have to ask serious questions about this.

As Purdy-Moore explained:

This is not a case of pitting victims against one another. This is not a case of saying that white victims don’t deserve the outrage and resources they receive. It is a case of highlighting institutional and systemic failures to treat each and every missing person with the respect and dignity that they’re entitled to.

Missing white people are given much more comprehensive media coverage and a greater sense of collective urgency. We’ve seen time and time again that the same does not happen for missing Black people.

Safe return

King shared her hopes for Owami’s safe return to her family:

An account set up to find Owami shared a heartfelt plea:

Owami deserves the respect and dignity afforded to missing white people. Anti-Blackness is a fundamental pillar of British life, and we must all work to dismantle it.

Featured image via screenshot YouTube/The Independent

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