Sarah Everard: Police confirm missing woman’s body found in Kent

Officer arrested on suspicion of kidnap and murder remains in custody

Human remains found in woodland near Ashford, Kent, are those of missing woman Sarah Everard, police have confirmed.

The 33-year-old disappeared as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, last week.

A serving Metropolitan Police officer was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of her kidnap and murder and remains in custody.

Assistant commissioner Nick Ephgrave confirmed on Friday the body found in Kent earlier this week had been formally identified as Everard, whose family on Thursday paid tribute to her as “thoughtful, caring and dependable”.

Read more: Sarah Everard disappearance timeline: What we know so far

Speaking outside New Scotland Yard, Asst Comm Ephgrave said: “As you know, on Wednesday evening detectives investigating the disappearance of Sarah Everard discovered a body secreted in woodland in Kent.

“The body has now been recovered and formal identification procedure has now been undertaken. I can now confirm that it is the body of Sarah Everard.”

Everard’s family had been told this “most distressing news” and were continuing to be supported by the police, he added.

“Specialist officers remain in constant contact with Sarah’s family, and will continue to support them throughout the investigation and beyond,” the police chief said.

“That investigation continues at a pace and we have hundreds of officers working round the clock to establish the full circumstances of Sarah’s disappearance, and her murder.”

Everard, a marketing executive who lived in Brixton, southwest London, was last seen on 3 March walking on a main road at 9.30pm.

Footage taken from a private doorbell camera, showing her on the A205 Poynders Road, heading towards the Tulse Hill area, was released by police on Sunday. It remains unclear if she reached home.

Wayne Couzens, a 48-year-old serving in the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, is currently being held in custody on suspicion of Ms Everard’s kidnap and subsequent murder.

He has also been arrested over a separate allegation of indecent exposure, which is thought to have taken place days before Everard went missing.

The police watchdog has since launched an investigation into whether Met Police officers “responded appropriately” to the report of indecent exposure, following referrals linked to PC Couzens’ arrest.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said its probe follows a “conduct referral” from the force in relation to two officers which was received on Wednesday night. This is linked to four other referrals, the watchdog said, all of which are connected to the arrest of PC Couzens.

Everard’s disappearance sparked an outcry on social media from women around the world who are demanding systemic change, including: greater protections for women, improved education for men on women’s lack of safety, and for the legal system to uphold convictions centred around violence against women.

Reclaim These Streets has organised a vigil to take place on Clapham Common, which Everard is thought to have crossed on her journey home, on Saturday. Sister events are planned for other cities and towns, including in Cambridge, Cardiff, Leeds, Edinburgh and Liverpool.

But Boris Johnson is cautioning people against attending such events due to the risk of spreading coronavirus. Organisers of the south London vigil told the BBC they intended to go to the High Court after police said the gatherings would be “unlawful”.

Asst Comm Ephgrave said on Friday he “recognised the wider concerns being raised about the safety of women in public spaces”, assuring the public that both Scotland Yard and the Met shared these concerns too.

“I want to say now that this organisation, and the men and women in it, remain committed to protecting Londoners wherever they are in this city,” he told reporters, shortly after confirming the identification of Everard’s body.

“I know that the public feel hurt and angry about what has happened, and those are sentiments that I share personally, and I know my colleagues here at Scotland Yard and across the Met share as well.”

The senior officer added: “That commitment is undiminished by these events and if anything that commitment is strengthened by these tragic circumstances.”