Sarah Everard: Police work through night investigating site where ‘human remains’ found

Police have stayed through the night at the scene where human remains were found in the search for Sarah Everard.

The 33-year-old vanished while walking to her home in Clapham on March 3, and a week later the Metropolitan Police announced a suspect had been arrested.

They also confirmed that Wayne Couzens, a serving police officer, has been arrested on suspicion of Ms Everard’s murder.

On Wednesday evening Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said human remains had been found in Ashford, Kent, more than 50 miles from where Ms Everard disappeared.

Officers were still at the scene just before 6am on Thursday morning, according to BBC reporter Simon Jones.

“Police investigating the disappearance of Sarah Everard remain at the scene in Ashford where human remains were discovered,” he said in a tweet alongside a police van parked on the edge of a gated field.

The 33-year-old’s disappearance after leaving a friend’s house in Clapham, south-west London, sparked a frantic search to locate her with flats cordoned off in Tulse Hill, South London on Tuesday before sites in Kent were searched on Wednesday.

This tragic update was provided by the force’s Commissioner outside Scotland Yard on Wednesday evening, confirming the discovery was made in woodlands near Ashford in Kent.

Ms Everard’s disappearance in “awful and wicked circumstances” are every family’s nightmare, Ms Dick said.

She said Londoners should know that it is “thankfully incredibly rare” for a woman to be abducted from the capital’s streets.

The commissioner added her thoughts are with Ms Everard’s family.

So far, the Met is not yet able to confirm an identity and Ms Dick added that such an ID “may take some considerable time”.

The commissioner went on to say: “The news today that it was a Metropolitan Police officer who was arrested on suspicion of Sarah’s murder has sent shockwaves and anger through the public and through the Met.

“I speak on behalf of all my colleagues when I say that we are utterly appalled at this dreadful, dreadful news.

“Our job is to patrol the streets and to protect people.”

Suspect Couzens, 48, serves in the force’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command.

He was held on Tuesday evening on suspicion of kidnapping Ms Everard, before being further arrested on suspicion of her murder and a separate allegation of indecent exposure.

Following the arrest, police searched a home and woodland in Kent. A woman is also being held on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Couzens was not on duty at the time Ms Everard went missing.

Commissioner Dick finished her statement with a message to the public.

She said: “I completely understand that women in London and the wider public – particularly those in the area where Sarah went missing – will be worried and may well be feeling scared.

“You should expect to see continued high levels of police patrols in that area as well as very significant investigative activity.

“Please report any concerns you may have to us.

“We have been so impressed, and thankful for the public support for the investigation and for sharing our appeals for information and of course we are deeply grateful to the many people who have come forward to assist us.

“Again my thoughts are with Sarah, her family and her loved ones.”