Sarah Everard's family pays tribute to ‘bright and beautiful’ daughter and sister

11 March 2021, 18:17 | Updated: 12 March 2021, 06:29

Sarah Everard's family have said she was "bright and beautiful" as they issued a plea for anyone who may have information about her disappearance to assist detectives.

Sarah has been missing since March 3, after she vanished in Clapham, south London.

A frantic search was launched for the marketing executive, but yesterday police confirmed "human remains" had been found in woodland in Ashford, Kent.

Although formal identification has not taken place, in a statement today the family said: “Our beautiful daughter Sarah was taken from us and we are appealing for any information that will help to solve this terrible crime.

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“Sarah was bright and beautiful - a wonderful daughter and sister. She was kind and thoughtful, caring and dependable. She always put others first and had the most amazing sense of humour.

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“She was strong and principled and a shining example to us all. We are very proud of her and she brought so much joy to our lives.

“We would like to thank our friends and family for all their support during this awful time and we would especially like to thank Sarah’s friends who are working tirelessly to help.

“We are so grateful to the police and would like to thank them for all they are doing. We are now pleading for additional help from the public.

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“Please come forward and speak to the police if you have any information. No piece of information is too insignificant. Thank you.”

Earlier today is was confirmed that a police officer who was arrested on suspicion of her murder was treated in hospital for a head injury.

The police officer, in his 40s and based in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit, has been in custody since March 9 when he was arrested on suspicion of Sarah's kidnap.

He was was further arrested on suspicion of murder and a separate allegation of indecent exposure on Wednesday.

A woman, aged in her 30s, was also arrested on the evening of 9 March on suspicion of assisting an offender and has been released on bail to return to a police station on a date in mid-April.

Sarah, 33, from London, went missing after leaving a friend's house in Clapham at about 9pm on March 3, sparking a frantic search.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today: "I am shocked and deeply saddened by the developments in the Sarah Everard investigation. Like the whole country my thoughts are with her family and friends. We must work fast to find all the answers to this horrifying crime."

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Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick confirmed last night that human remains had been found in the search for the missing marketing executive.

Speaking on Wednesday evening, she said: "Detectives and search teams investigating Sarah's disappearance have found very sadly what appears to be human remains.

"The discovery was made in an area of woodland in Ashford in Kent. As you can imagine at this early stage we are not able to confirm any identify and indeed that may take us some considerable time."

Speaking about the news a police officer was being held on suspicion of her murder, she added: "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.

"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.

"The investigation is large, fast moving and very determined. We have hundreds of officers and staff who have been working around the clock.

"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.

"But I completely understand that despite this, women in London and the wider public - particularly those in the area where Sarah went missing - will be worried and may well be feeling scared."