Police have arrested a 27-year-old convicted sex offender near Amersfoort in connection with their investigation into the disappearance of a young woman from Utrecht.

Anne Faber, 25, was last seen on the evening of September 29 in Baarn, near Utrecht, when she sent a selfie to friends before setting off on a bike ride. She may have tried to take shelter from a storm and her phone was picked up by a transmitter south of Soest at around 7.30pm, but that was the last known trace of her.

The investigation so far has led to the man, who is currently held in in the forensic psychiatric department of a clinic in Den Dolder, just 4.5 kilometres from where Anne’s jacket was found last Friday.

According to the Telegraaf the man, whom it names as Michael P, was jailed in 2012 for 11 years for two vicious rapes and a string of robberies. He was allowed out of the clinic as part of a resocialisation programme, the paper said.

The police have not said what led them to make the arrest.

More than 200 people in total, including friends, family and Red Cross volunteers, have been involved in the search for the missing woman. The lake on the Huis ter Heide estate was drained last Friday after her jacket was found nearby along with a bike and rucksack that are believed to belong to her.