Police scrambled to reassure the public after an officer from an elite unit was arrested for the alleged kidnap and murder of a woman who vanished on her way home, and investigators searching for her found human remains. Hope faded in the search for Sarah Everard, 33, after the Metropolitan police commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, announced that police had made the discovery in woodland in Kent. Dick said the marketing executive’s disappearance from Clapham, south-west London, on Wednesday last week ago was “every family’s worst nightmare”, while the arrest of a serving officer had sent “shockwaves and anger through the public and through the Met”. PC Wayne Couzens, 48, was arrested on Tuesday at his home in Deal, Kent, on suspicion of kidnapping Everard, who vanished after leaving a friend’s house at around 9pm on 3 March and beginning a 50-minute walk home. After searches in Kent, with remains found in woodland in Ashford, he was arrested on Wednesday for her murder and also on suspicion of a separate allegation of indecent exposure. Couzens is in the elite parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, and his main role is protecting diplomatic premises. Officers in this role are usually armed and vetted. Announcing the officer’s arrest at midnight on Tuesday, Met assistant commissioner Nick Ephgrave described the news as shocking and accepted that it would damage public confidence. “This is a serious and significant development in our search for Sarah and the fact that the man who’s been arrested is a serving Metropolitan police officer is both shocking and deeply disturbing. I recognise the significant concern this will cause,” he said. On Wednesday, Dick added: “The news today that it was a Metropolitan police officer who was arrested on suspicion of Sarah’s murder has sent shockwaves and anger through the public and through the Met. I speak on behalf of all my colleagues when I say that we are utterly appalled at this dreadful, dreadful news. Our job is to patrol the streets and to protect people.” Officers from Scotland Yard’s homicide command had been combing through CCTV and video footage from devices such as video door bells for any clue about Everard’s whereabouts. Police chiefs were said to be shocked when the investigation team told them they had reason to arrest a serving officer with the Met. On Wednesday officers were searching locations in London as well as a home in Deal, 80 miles from the capital, and woodland near Ashford, 50 miles away, including an abandoned paintball centre. The officer was first arrested on Tuesday night on suspicion of the abduction of Everard, alongside a woman in her 30s who was detained at the same location on suspicion of aiding an offender. Both were taken into custody. Mandu Reid, leader of the Women’s Equality party, said the Met should not oversee the case, given the arrest of a serving officer on suspicion of murder. She said: “This case has affected women right across the capital and across the country but I cannot begin to imagine the pain that Sarah’s friends and family are going through. The fact that a police officer has been arrested on suspicion of murder makes it all the more frightening, and it is imperative that the case is now taken over by a separate police force. We have to do this right.” Seeking the reassure the public, the Met commissioner said: “I know Londoners will want to know that it is thankfully incredibly rare for a woman to be abducted from our streets. 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.” London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said: “I know how shocked and worried Londoners are by Sarah’s disappearance and the developments in the case. “I want to assure Sarah’s family, and everyone in our city, that the police are doing absolutely everything they can … Londoners will continue to see more police officers on our streets continuing their investigation and carrying out reassurance patrols in the area where Sarah went missing a week ago.” Everard, who was described as 5ft 4in with blond hair and of slim build, was last seen wearing a green rain jacket, navy blue trousers with a white diamond pattern, turquoise and orange trainers and a white beanie hat as she walked from the Clapham Junction area towards her home in Brixton after meeting a friend. In a statement last week, Everard’s family said her disappearance was out of character. “With every day that goes by we are getting more worried about Sarah. She is always in regular contact with us and with her friends and it is totally out of character for her to disappear like this. We long to see her and want nothing more than for her to be found safe and well. “We are so grateful to the police and all our friends for all they are doing. We are desperate for news and if anyone knows anything about what has happened to her, we would urge you to please come forward and speak to the police. No piece of information is too insignificant.” Police activity since Tuesday evening intensified and focused on an address in Deal. David Ladd, 48, said he saw two people arrested there at about 10pm on Tuesday. He said: “It was all cordoned with unmarked police cars and the police were all over the house. They arrested two people. They brought them out and put them in two separate cars and took them off. “They were in and out the house for about an hour and a half to two hours. Then a normal police car turned up and the others left. They’ve stayed there all night.” Police removed a car from an address in Deal for examination. In a statement, the Met said: “The man, who is aged in his 40s, was arrested on the evening of Tuesday 9 March on suspicion of kidnap. Today, Wednesday 10 March, he has been further arrested on suspicion of murder and a separate allegation of indecent exposure. “The man is a serving Metropolitan police officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command. His primary role was uniformed patrol duties of diplomatic premises. A woman, who is aged in her 30s, was also arrested on the evening of 9 March on suspicion of assisting an offender. She remains in custody.” The Met has referred the case to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which said: “Following assessment we determined that both conduct referrals relating to the kidnap/murder and indecent exposure should remain under local investigation by the force. “We have also received a mandatory referral in relation to the actions of police after Sarah was reported missing. This is still being assessed to determine what further action may be required from us. As there is an ongoing and fast-moving Met police investigation, it would not be appropriate to say more at this time.”