LONDON (AP) – A police officer has been arrested for kidnapping and murder in connection with a woman who went missing in London last week, Metropolitan Police said. The force said Wednesday the fact that the man is a serving police officer is “shocking and deeply disturbing.”
The force said the man, who is in his forties, was arrested late Tuesday in Kent, south-east London, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing manager who disappeared when he left a friend’s flat in south London on 3 March.
Police said the suspect is a serving officer in the parliamentary and diplomatic protection order and is responsible for patrolling diplomatic premises.
He was first arrested on the grounds of kidnapping, and on Wednesday he was “further arrested on the grounds of murder and a separate allegation of indecent exposure.”
The officer was not on duty at the time of Everard’s disappearance. Police did not say if he knew Everard. The force said he was arrested along with a woman in her thirties, who allegedly assisted an offender. Both suspects remained in custody.
“This is a serious and important development in our search for Sarah and the fact that the man arrested is a serving Metropolitan Police Officer is shocking and deeply disturbing,” said Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave.
Detectives were searching for locations in London and a home and bushveld in Kent after the arrest of the officer and the woman. The officer was arrested at a London police station.