A YEAR ago today 22-year-old Sian O’Callaghan went missing after a night out with friends at a Swindon nightclub.

Her disappearance polarised the town in a wave of sympathy which culminated in an outpouring of grief when her body was found at Uffington five days later.

Today her family remember the girl who lit up a room with her humour and made friends in an instant.

Mum Elaine, 49, dad Mick, 52, brothers Liam, 25, and Aiden, 11, sister Lora, 20, and grandmother Peggy Pearce, 79, have spoken for the first time in their own words about their beautiful girl.

Boyfriend Kevin Reape has paid his own tribute in our memoriam section on page 21 with a poem to the girl he was just about to start life with as a couple.

A collection of treasured family photos published for the first time on pages 4 and 5 show Sian at her happiest – larking about with her younger sister Lora in the garden, with dad Mick ahead of her school prom or enjoying Christmas at home with the family.

Described as ‘bubbly’, ‘fun’ and an ‘inspiration’, the popular 22-year-old disappeared after leaving Suju at 2.52am on Saturday, March 19 and police launched a major missing persons hunt.

Thousands of members of the public turned out to help search and the town was rocked by news of her death days later. Hundreds turned up to pay their respects at her funeral.

Today, the day after Mother’s Day, Elaine said: “This is testament to Sian – the sort of person she was and how she touched so many people.

“For so many people to be able to see the Sian her family know and love is very comforting.”

Both Mick and Elaine also thanked their partners Debbie O’Callaghan and Pete Shawe for their continued support.

l Christopher Halliwell, 48, of Ashbury Avenue, Nythe has been charged with Sian’s murder and will appear in court on April 4.