Metropolitan police officer arrested on suspicion of murder

London, United Kingdom – Metropolitan Police, London said they arrested a serving police officer on suspicion of kidnapping and murder in connection with a woman who went missing from London last week.

The police said the officer, in his 40s, was arrested Tuesday in Kent, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Sarah Everard, a 33 year old marketing executive who vanished while walking home from a friend’s home in south London on March 3rd.

Police said late Wednesday detectives believe they have found human remains in woodland in Kent, but have yet to confirmed the identity of the remains.

The suspect was a serving officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command (DPG), and was responsible for patrolling diplomatic premises such as Parliament, Downing Street and foreign embassies.

He was first arrested on suspicion of kidnapping then “further arrested on suspicion of murder and a separate allegation of indecent exposure.”

Police didn’t say whether he knew Everard. The suspect was arrested along with a woman in her 30s, who was held on suspicion of ‘assisting an offender. ‘

Commissioner Cressida Dick, who heads the Metropolitan Police, stated the fact that a serving officer was arrested on suspicion of Everard’s murder “sent waves of shock and anger through the public” and the force.

She added, “I speak on behalf of all my colleagues in the Met when I say we are utterly appalled at this dreadful news.”

“Sarah’s disappearance in these awful and wicked circumstances is every family’s worst nightmare. I know Londoners will want to know that it is thankfully incredibly rare for a woman to be abducted from our streets.”

The case was fast paced and hundreds of officers were working around the clock on the investigation, Dick said.