The remains were found amid the search for Sarah Everard, inset
(Picture: ES Composite)Police investigating the disappearance of Sarah Everard say they have found what appear to be human remains.
The discovery was made in an area of woodland in Ashford in Kent, Commissioner Cressida Dick said on Wednesday evening.
Two sites in Kent were being searched on Wednesday as the hunt for the missing 33-year-old has continued.
“We are not able to confirm any identity. That may take some considerable time,” she added.
Announcing the development in the investigation, Ms Dick said her “thoughts and prayers are with Sarah Everard’s family and her friends at this very difficult and painful time.”
“Specialist officers have been with Sarah’s family to update them on the investigation andto continue to support them as best we possibly can.,” she added.
The Met Police announced earlier on Wednesday that a serving police officer held over the disappearance of Ms Everard had been arrested on suspicion of murder.
The man, in his 40s and part of the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, is also being questioned over suspected kidnap.
“The news today that it was a Metropolitan Police officer arrested on suspicion of Sarah’s murder has sent waves of shock and anger through the public and through the whole of the Met”, Ms Dick said.
“I speak on behalf of all my colleagues in the Met when I say we are utterly appalled at this dreadful news. Our job is to patrol the streets and to protect people.”
Ms Everard’s disappearance in “awful and wicked circumstances” is 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 detention of the unnamed policeman was announced by the force just before midnight last night after a breakthrough described as “shocking and deeply disturbing” by one of the force’s most senior officers.
The Met said his arrest was “a significant development” in its investigation into the disappearance of 33-year-old Ms Everard, but did not initially reveal the precise grounds on which the officer was being detained.
Later on Wednesday, the force said he had been arrested on suspicion of kidnap on Tuesday, before being further arrested on suspicion of murder on Wednesday. He was also arrested over a separate allegation of indecent exposure.
The suspect, aged in his 40, was arrested at an address in Kent, understood to be in Deal, on Tuesday evening. A woman, aged in her 30s, was arrested at the same address on suspicion of assisting an offender. Both remain in custody.
At the house in Deal, neighbours spoke of their shock as a metal fence was put up surrounding the front garden and driveway and police remained at the scene.
One said: “You don’t expect it to be on your doorstep really. You see this sort of thing every day on the TV and the news but you don’t expect it.”
Matt Mullan, 29, who also lives nearby, said: “Last night there were police cars outside all night. I thought this is a bit strange, not normal for round here.
“It was about 8-9pm there was heavy traffic out there and there have been police cars outside all morning. It’s very surprising, definitely not what you expect to see.”
Another neighbour said a police officer lives at the address with his “chatty” wife and two children.
She said: “They just seemed like a normal, regular family, there was nothing strange about them at all.” She added that police were digging up the garden.
Officers were also carrying out searches on land at a disused outdoor activity and golfing centre near the village of Great Chart.
Ms Everard disappeared a week ago as she walked from a friend’s house next to Clapham Common to her home in Brixton.
She was last captured on a doorbell camera walking along the South Circular towards Tulse Hill at around 9.30pm on Wednesday March 3, shortly after leaving a friend’s house on Leathwaite Road, one of the streets between Clapham and Wandsworth commons, through a back gate.
Ms Everard is thought to have walked across Clapham Common before heading along the South Circular en route to Brixton in a journey that should have taken about 50 minutes.
A detailed forensic search of the area around the Poynders Court housingestate, where the doorbell footage was captured, and the nearby Oaklands Estatehad already begun before the with officers lifting covers and searching drains.Fingertip searches of rubbish and gardens have also been conducted.
Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin had said earlier: “This is a fast-moving investigation and we are doing everything we can to find Sarah.
“We have seen an overwhelming response from the public and I repeat myrequest for anyone with information that may be relevant to come forward, no matter how insignificant it may seem.”
Ms Everard’s uncle Nick told the Standard on Wednesday morning that he did not know whether his niece knew the arrested officer.
Mr Everard added: “It’s unbelievable that a police officer has been arrested. It’s difficult to get your head round.”
Speaking on Wednesday morning, Met AssistantCommissioner Nick Ephgrave described the arrest as “aserious and significant development”. He added: “We will continue to work withall speed on this investigation but the fact that the arrested man is a serving Metropolitan Police officer is both shocking and deeply disturbing.
“I understand there will be significant public concern but it isessential that the investigative team are given the time and space to continue their work.”
He added that the officer “was not on duty at the time” when Ms Everard, a Durham University graduate who comes from York, went missing.
The Met has already received more than 120 calls from the public and had visited 750 homes in the area as part of the investigation.
Officers released a CCTV image of her taken earlier in the evening when she went to Sainsbury’s to buy a bottle of wine before heading toher friend’s house.
She was last seen wearing a green rain jacket, navy blue trousers with awhite diamond pattern and turquoise and orange trainers.
She was also thought to have been wearing green earphones and a whitebeanie hat. Two new images released last night include one showing her in thesame green coat she was wearing when she vanished. The other shows her wearing a red coat and hat and displaying a medal.
Police say they are continuing to appeal for residents to submit CCTVfootage that might have captured her on the night of her disappearance and thatthey also want delivery drivers and other motorists who were on the SouthCircular around the time she vanished to check their dashcam footage in thehope of finding further clues.
Downing Street said Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s thoughts are with MsEverard and her friends and family.
His official spokesman told journalists at a Westminster briefing: “As investigations are ongoing on this case I can’t comment.
“But the Prime Minister’s thoughts are with Sarah and her friends andfamily.”
Following the arrest of the police officer, the Metropolitan Police said it had made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
