Taxi Driver Online

A man has been arrested on suspicion of the kidnap of Sian O'Callaghan, who disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Swindon on Saturday.

Miss O'Callaghan, 22, has not been seen since she left the town's Suju nightclub in the early hours.

The man was held at a supermarket in north Swindon where police also seized a green Toyota car.



Police confirmed a number of locations across the county were also being searched as part of the inquiry.

Ch Supt Steve Hedley, of Wiltshire Police, said: "A short time ago a man was arrested on suspicion of the kidnap of Sian O'Callaghan and is en route to a police custody centre.

"Sian's family have been informed.


"It is a significant stage in this difficult inquiry. Our priority is to find Sian and we are doing all that we can to do so.

"Further information will be released in due course but it is not appropriate for me to make any further comment at this time."

On Thursday afternoon a white tent was put up outside a semi-detached house in Ashbury Avenue, near Greenbridge, in Swindon.

A Wiltshire Police spokeswoman would not comment on its significance but confirmed a number of locations were being examined.

BBC correspondent Robert Hall, who is at the scene, said the house is occupied by a man in his mid 40s and neighbours say the taxi is often on the drive.

"Forensic officers are searching the inside and the outside of the property and items brought out and put into a police van," he said.

Detectives are also searching a second location between Ashbury and Letcombe Regis, some seven miles east of Swindon, and close to the Uffington White Horse, Oxfordshire.

Officers had earlier appealed for sightings of a green Toyota Avensis estate with taxi markings, seen between Swindon and Savernake Forest, near Marlborough, shortly after Miss O'Callaghan was last seen.

Specialist dog teams were drafted in to help in the search for the office administrator on Thursday after detectives using mobile phone technology pinpointed several areas of interest in the 4,500-acre forest.

Police are also appealing for information about items believed to have been in Miss O'Callaghan's handbag.

The bag is described as large and dark, with a beige flower on the side.

A spokesman said she was likely to have had items similar to a front door key with a "distinctive pattern", a black car key with yellow insulation tape, a Tesco Clubcard key fob, lip gloss and a yellow Kinder Egg plastic casing containing an orangey-brown squirrel with a felt belly.

He said she was also believed to have worn or had with her a DKNY watch with false diamonds and had been wearing a pair of brown boots.

About 200 people attended a vigil for Miss O'Callaghan on Wednesday night.

An area of the road and the verge has been sealed-off and is being guarded by a number of police officers.

A reward to help find her now stands at £40,000.

In a statement, Miss O'Callaghan's family said: "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.

"We are aware of the reward that has been offered and are very grateful; we hope that this might help someone come forward with information to help the police find her.

"This is an extremely difficult time for us and we continue to hope and pray that our beautiful girl is found soon."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12845965

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Shocking......I hear they've recovered the poor girls body with another woman.

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Police investigating the murder of office worker Sian O'Callaghan are probing links to a 1996 murder and a Wiltshire missing woman case - as the hunt for a second body continues.

Officers revealed the second body could relate to an incident several years ago, and could be an adult.

Chief Superintendent Steve Fulcher, leading the inquiry, said: "If there is a second body, we believe it relates to an incident some years ago and it is an adult.

"Wiltshire only has one outstanding missing adult case and that is from several years ago."

It is understood teams investigating the murder of Melanie Hall, 25, in 1996, are to liaise with officers in Wiltshire, while the 2001 disappearance of another woman in the county is also being looked into again.

Hospital clerical worker Melanie Hall disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Bath, and her remains were found in a bin liner beside the M5 in Gloucestershire in 2009. Nobody has ever been charged with her murder.

Miss O'Callaghan's body was discovered on Thursday near the famous "White Horse" landmark in rural Oxfordshire.

Police have not yet revealed the cause of her death, but a post-mortem is being carried out.

A 47-year-old man - named locally as minicab driver Christopher Halliwell - is also being held in custody on suspicion of two counts of murder and a kidnap, after being arrested at a Swindon supermarket on Thursday.

Police have been granted a 24-hour extension to question the suspect.

Ch Supt Fulcher revealed that the man took him personally to the location of 22-year-old Miss O'Callaghan's body, in Uffington.

He was then taken to a second location near Northleach, Gloucestershire, where officers have been searching throughout the night for the second body.

Roadblocks were set up around the villages of Eastleach Turville and Eastleach Martin, as police scoured an area around a farm for clues.

Sky's midlands correspondent, David Crabtree who is near Eastleach said: "Chris Halliwell brought the police here, to a specific field on Baxters farm, to a very small area.

"He (Halliwell) pointed at what was a ploughed field so today there is a digger digging quite deep trying to find out if there is a body.

"The police really do not know what they are up against until this search has reached its conclusion."

Ch Supt Fulcher said the operation was a "painstaking" one.

"It is not a simple issue to ascertain whether there is a second body at that location so we do not know what we are dealing at this stage."

He added that when Miss O'Callaghan was first reported missing, the case immediately caused him to become concerned.

"She was a lovely girl from a stable family and her not contacting her family was completely out of character," he said.

The fast-moving case has seen a number of developments in recent days.

After Miss O'Callaghan's disappearance on Saturday, police used mobile phone technology to narrow down a search area in the 4,500 acre Savernake Forest.

They then seized a green Toyota Avensis taxi they had appealed for in connection to the case, and shortly afterwards arrested a suspect.

By Thursday afternoon, a white police tent had been erected in the front garden of a house in suburban Swindon, where specialist officers carried out detailed searches.

By the end of Thursday, Miss O'Callaghan's body had been found, and officers had revealed they were also looking for a second body.

Miss O'Callaghan was last seen on CCTV leaving Suju nightclub, in Swindon's Old Town area, after an evening out with friends.

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

Mr Reape, a quantity surveyor, raised the alarm at 9.45am on Saturday when she had not returned to their flat.

Miss O'Callaghan's family earlier thanked members of the public who had helped in the search for their "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.

"We have been so touched by the support shown by the community that we wanted to express our thanks," the family said in a statement.

:: Anyone with information is asked to contact Wiltshire Police on 0845 408 7000 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20110325/tuk ... dbed5.html

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

It's every parents worse nightmare....

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

it would appear that your hearing is impared.

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Grandad,

Building up the usual defence case, FFS!!!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... &ATTR=News

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

The trouble now is that some people are already putting 2 and 2 together and assuming that all single male cabbies are psychopathic homicidal manaiacs well round here a few are anyway

Unfortunately it's the nature of the beast, but, I think you'll find that they know not if a taxi driver is single. I however tend to be quite a welcome sight with the single girls. It's not good for the trade but you have to remember it is far worse for the family involved

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

That's the nature of the beast, but it will be all forgotten about soon, until the trial that is.

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IDFIMH

i must object to that

my tablets keep me quite normal most of the time

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Thats the trouble of living in a small town a lot of people know you !


I have to say though that the coverage of this is assuming that the bloke is guilty before the full facts have emerged whatever happened to innocent till proven guilty ? Oh yes I forgot he's a Ph driver that rule doesn't apply if you drive a Taxi or a ph

The fact that he actually showed the police where the bodies were may be a clue.

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Grandad,

Mini-cab driver accused of two murders to appear in court

8:53am Thursday 28th July 2011

The man accused of murdering Sian O'Callaghan and Becky Godden-Edwards will appear before Bristol Crown Court this morning.

Mini-cab driver Christopher Halliwell will appear via videolink from Long Lartin prison, in Worcestershire, for a plea and case management hearing.

The 47-year-old, of Ashbury Avenue, is accused of murdering Miss Godden-Edwards, on a day between December 27, 2002 and January 1, 2006, and of murdering Miss O'Callaghan.

He has already been told that he will face trial before a High Court judge in January next year.

Miss Godden-Edwards' remains were discovered at a Cotswold beauty spot after Halliwell was detained by detectives investigating the death of Miss O'Callaghan.

It is understood that Miss Godden-Edwards, who would have celebrated her 29th birthday in April, was last seen by her family around eight years ago.

Miss O'Callaghan disappeared after leaving Swindon's Suju nightclub in the early hours of March 19 after a night out with friends.

Five days later, police found the 22-year-old's body in a field in Uffington, Oxfordshire.

Source; http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/9 ... urt_today/

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.