Man held on suspicion of double murder

The 22-year-old had not been seen since leaving a Swindon nightclub early last Saturday morning.

The identity of the second body was not being revealed last night. Police said they knew where it was and were searching in a country area near the “White Horse” chalk figure at Uffington in Oxfordshire.

Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, who is leading the murder inquiry, said a 47-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of kidnap and two murders.

Police reportedly arrested the suspect outside an Asda supermarket in Swindon. Later officers began searching a house in Ashbury Avenue, Swindon.

A green taxi seen early on Saturday was seized.

Neighbours said the man living at the Ashbury Avenue house was a cabbie who drove a green taxi. A police tent was erected in the front garden of the semi-detached house, which was cordoned off.

Miss O’Callaghan’s family were said to be “deeply distressed”. Mr Fulcher 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.”

Detectives were also searching a second location between Ashbury and Letcombe Regis, around seven miles east of Swindon.

Mr Fulcher asked for the O’Callaghan family to be given “time and space to come to terms with what’s happened.”

He said: “The public and the media have been a fantastic help in the desperate effort to find Sian over the last few days.”

It had been a fast-paced inquiry, he said, and he was “under extreme pressure to undertake certain actions and procedures.” He went on: “I would ask you to give me some time to enable me to recover these bodies, with the dignity and respect that they deserve.”

He said he was concerned for the family, and the effect it would have on them.

Miss O’Callaghan, an office administrator, was seen on CCTV leaving the nightclub, in Swindon’s Old Town area, after an evening out with girl friends.

She lived away with her boyfriend Kevin Reape, 25, in a flat half a mile away.

Specialist dog teams were helping the search after mobile phone technology pinpointed several areas of interest in 4,500-acre Savernake Forest.

Police revealed earlier this week that phone records put Miss O’Callaghan’s mobile phone somewhere in the forest 34 minutes after she left Suju nightclub at 2.52am on Saturday.

Miss O’Callaghan’s family thanked members of the public who have helped in the search for “our beautiful girl”.

Hundreds of people – many who did not know Miss O’Callaghan –joined police searches of Savernake Forest, near Marlborough, or put up posters appealing for help.

The family said in a statement issued by Wiltshire Police: “We have been so touched by the support shown by the community that we wanted to express our thanks.

“The sheer numbers of people who have given up their time to help search for Sian and distribute appeal posters are overwhelming and we couldn’t ask for better support from the public, police and media.”

Residents in villages about 15 miles to the east of Swindon said a length of road had been sealed off by police.

Angus Tucker, the landlord at the Blowing Stone pub in Kingston Lisle, said customers told him a section of the B4507 was cordoned off.

Police searched a wooded area to the side of the cordoned-off country road and erected an open-sided tent with a white roof at the roadside.

Four crime scene investigation officers in white all-in-one suits worked in a taped-off zone.

The site is hidden away in a wooded area as the road goes into a small valley.