The search for missing London woman Sarah Everard has come to an end with a police officer arrested for suspicion of murder.
Everard was last seen on March 3rd in Clapham, South London leaving her friends home around 9:00 P.M. Her disappearance quickly grabbed international attention and shined a light on the growing threat of violence against women in the U.K.
Sadly, her remains were located on Wednesday in a wooded area in Ashford, Kent, an area in southeast England.
“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,” said Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave.
Even more disturbing is that the man accused of killing her is a law enforcement officer. Metropolitan Police specialist firearms officer Wayne Couzens was arrested on suspicion of murder and kidnapping. His wife Elena was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. She has since been released. Couzens superiors are facing criticism after not arresting him after he exposed himself at a McDonald’s in South London on February 28th. Had he been arrested and remained behind bars, there is a good chance that Everard would still be alive.
On Friday, Couzens was found in his cell unconscious with head injuries. He was rushed to the hospital but has since been discharged. It is unclear if the injuries resulted from a suicide attempt.
While a motive and a cause of death have not been determined, police are confident that the father of two kidnapped and killed the marketing executive as she walked home alone.
