Kevin Reape, boyfriend of missing Swindon woman Sian O'Callaghan, reads a statement at the press conference. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA
The boyfriend of a young woman who has been missing since leaving a nightclub in the early hours on Saturday has made a tearful appeal for information about her.
Her boyfriend, Kevin Reape, 25, told a press conference: "I just want to say how worried we are about Sian. Someone out there must know where she is.
"This is a terrible time for all of us and we are hoping for her safe return."
O'Callaghan's phone was used in Savernake forest near Marlborough, 12 miles away, not long after her disappearance. Officers scoured the forest to try to find the woman or anyone who had seen her.
O'Callaghan had been on a night out with girlfriends at the Japanese-themed club before she went missing. Her boyfriend was not out with them and is believed to have raised the alarm when she did not return home.
Chief Inspector Mike Jones, of Wiltshire police, said: "For Sian not to return home after a night out and not make any contact with friends or family is not only unusual for her, but is something that she has never done before.
"Sian doesn't appear to have any reason in her personal life that would indicate that she might want to leave the area and she is normally an avid Facebook user, but has not used her account since earlier in the day on Friday.
"Sian's family are extremely worried about her and we are offering them our full support."
Savernake forest, where police have focused their search, is between Marlborough and Hungerford and is owned by the Earl of Cardigan and his family trustees.
Jones urged anyone with information to come forward and made a direct appeal to O'Callaghan. He said: "It is very important that anyone who knows of Sian's whereabouts or of any reason for her to stay away contacts us immediately.
"I would also like to take this opportunity to appeal directly to Sian and ask her to make contact with her family or police to let us know that she is OK."
Concerned friends have set up Facebook groups and appealed for help on Twitter. More than 80 people pledged to join the search of Savernake forest but were discouraged by police, worried that the hunt could be hampered if scores of people turned up. Instead, volunteers helped stick up posters in shops and pubs.
It also emerged that police launched an awareness campaign in Swindon last year after a series of attacks on women.
Police confirmed O'Callaghan was assaulted in the toilets of the same nightclub in October 2008, when another woman punched her.
A spokeswoman for the force added: "We are aware of a previous assault but we are very much focusing on the here and now. It is not a focus of the investigation at the moment."
O'Callaghan is described as being white, 5ft 3in (1.6 metres), of medium build, with brown hair cut in an asymmetric style and green eyes. She was wearing a grey dress, black bolero-style jacket, dark tights and flat boots when she was last seen and was carrying a dark handbag with a beige flower attached.
Niall