The devastated daughter of missing Bronwyn Davies today said she was plagued by the fear her beloved mother may have gone the way of murdered schoolgirl Alice Gross, as the two cases bear tragic resemblance.
Miss Davies has been missing since New Year's Day with only one confirmed sighting – CCTV footage showing her walking along the Grand Union Canal towpath towards Hayes, near to the John Guest premises in Horton Road, West Drayton, at 10.28am that day.
It echoes the tragic case of 14-year-old Alice, who was seen on CCTV walking alongside the same canal, near to Brentford Lock, on the day she went missing from her home in Hanwell in August last year. Her body was found a month later in the River Brent. The body of the prime suspect in her murder, Arnis Zalkalns, was later found hanging in Boston Manor Park.
Today Miss Davies' daughter, Ciara Morgan, said she had been unable to sleep since reporting her mother missing on January 1 and feared a repeat of what happened to talented Alice, whose death shook the entire country.
Miss Morgan, 31, said: "All the circumstances seem so similar to those in the case of that poor girl Alice Gross. When all that was going on I kept saying to my mum, 'Mum, if she hasn't been seen, and she hasn't used any money and she hasn't got any money, I'm afraid she might be dead.' And this has all been going through my head. I haven't slept in a week. I'm not in denial. I understand the severity of the situation."
Miss Morgan said she was trying to stay positive, but added: "It's like I'm in a bubble. I can't cope without my mum. It's only me and her. I don't have anybody else. This is my desparation. She's the only person I have in the world. I miss her so much."
Police say there is no evidence Miss Davies, 60, has suffered any harm. They remain hopeful of finding her safe and are pursuing new leads.
Today (Friday, January 9) they released CCTV images showing 11 people seen walking along the canal towpath in the hour after Miss Davies was spotted and appealed for them to make contact.
And officers say they have received 'a couple' of unconfirmed sightings of the type 1 diabetic and asthmatic, who is without her insulin or inhaler and is believed to have no money or phone with her.
Police are currently focusing their search on Hayes and the canal, which officers have been searching using boats and sniffer dogs, while a helicopter has been scouring the area from above – all of which again mirrors the case of tragic Alice.
Police in Italy, where Miss Davies lived between 2006 and 2013, have visited her old home but found no useful information.
Miss Morgan, who lives with her mother in West Drayton, wants the UK public to help widen the search nationally, in case Miss Davies was picked up by a boat on the canal, which stretches all the way to Birmingham.
She said: "I'm afraid in case she's gone along that canal and somebody's taken her all the way to Birmingham or Essex. All our focus has been local."
Miss Davies is described as white, 5ft tall, with grey hair pinned up, making it appear short, and of a slim and frail build with green eyes.
She was last seen wearing a black rain mac, a cream/grey woolly hat, navy blue wellington boots with a white dog pattern, and carrying a black backpack, as well as a distinctive colourful Tesco carrier bag.
She regularly walks her family's large, tan-coloured Rottweiler-American bulldog cross, Beth, along the Grand Union Canal and around the Packet Boat Lane area and Marina, and is well-known to dog-walkers and joggers in the area.
Anyone who has seen Miss Davies or who knows of her whereabouts should call the Hillingdon Missing Persons Unit on 0208 246 1710 or 0208 246 1732, or call police on 101.
