UK police find suspected human remains in search for missing woman

Sarah Everard, 33, was last seen at 2130 GMT on March 3 as she walked home from a friend’s house in south London.

“This evening, detectives and search teams investigating Sarah’s disappearance have found very sadly what appears to be human remains,” Dick, the head of London’s Metropolitan Police, said in a televised statement.

“The discovery was made in an area of woodland in Ashford in Kent. As you can imagine, at this early stage we are not able to confirm any identity, and indeed that may take us some considerable time.”

Earlier police said the arrested officer, whose job was to guard diplomatic buildings, was in custody after being detained on Tuesday evening. The man in his 40s is also under suspicion of indecent exposure.

A woman in her 30s was also arrested at the same location on suspicion of assisting an offender.

The London force said the officer, who works for the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, had not been on duty the night Everard disappeared.

Dick said the news of the officer’s arrest had sent “waves of shock and anger” through the police force and the public.

She said the fast-moving investigation into Everard’s disappearance would continue. Earlier officers had been seen searching streets and nearby areas on her route home, that went near the large grassy Clapham Common area in south London.

Officers were also searching locations in Kent, southeast of London, including a property in the seaside town of Deal and the area of woodland near Ashford.

Earlier police said they could not give further details on whether the two people arrested knew each other, or how long the man had been a police officer for. The organisation charged with policing the conduct of officers is aware of the arrest.

REUTERS