Search for missing Sarah Everard, 33, enters sixth day as new CCTV footage shows no sign of her
Missing Sarah Everard ‘made 15 minute phone call to her boyfriend’ moments before she vanished on walk home – as family say he is ‘very worried’ about her while police search pond for clues
- Miss Everard, 33, phoned her boyfriend Josh Lowth, also 33, as she made plans to meet him the following day
- Mr Lowth, a marketing executive, from Clapham, raised the alarm when she failed to meet him, her aunt said
- His father Chris Lowth, from Sidcup, Kent, said: ‘We are concerned. We really, really want to see her back.’
- Miss Everard vanished while walking home to Brixton from a friend’s house in Clapham on Wednesday night
- London’s Metropolitan Police officers have been searching ponds in Clapham Common for the past two days
- Ms Everard was last seen wearing a green rain jacket and navy blue trousers with a white diamond pattern
- The Met says its Specialist Crime Command is leading the investigation which they say continues ‘at pace’
- Police have spoken to more than 750 people and urge anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage to get in touch
Missing marketing executive Sarah Everard made a 15 minute phone call to her boyfriend on the night she vanished – as his family today told how worried he is about her and says he just wants her back.
Miss Everard, 33, ‘vanished into thin air’ after leaving a friend’s house in south London on Wednesday night for a 50-minute walk home.
The Durham University graduate spent a quarter of an hour on her phone making plans to see her boyfriend Josh Lowth the following day before her mobile was either switched off or ran out of battery.
Mr Lowth, 33, whose LinkedIn says he is Marketing Director at MA Exhibitions, later raised the alarm to police when she failed to meet him as she had arranged, her aunt confirmed.
Speaking at Mr Lowth’s family home in Sidcup Kent, his father Chris told MailOnline: ‘We are concerned, like everybody is. We really, really want to see her back.’
‘The whole family is obviously very worried about her and just wants her home safely.
‘We’re all pulling together and praying that this awful situation is quickly resolved. We want to thank the media for all their help.’
Sarah Everard had left a friend’s house at 9pm on Wednesday and had begun a 50 minute journey back to her home in Brixton
Josh Lowth, 33, is the boyfriend of missing Sarah Everard, the woman seen walking between Clapham Junction and Brixton
Police search teams work their way through the reeds in Mount Pond on Clapham Common in the Sarah Everard investigation
A poster is seen as police search teams work their way through the reeds in Mount Pond on Clapham Common today
Her family and friends released a plea for her return, saying: ‘Sarah, we are here for whenever you are ready’
Mr Lowth shared a Facebook post appealing for anyone who knows where Sarah is to get in touch with police.
He wrote on Facebook yesterday: ‘Sarah is still missing. Please share this post to help us to find her. Today, more than ever, we miss our strong, beautiful friend.’
Miss Everard’s last sighting on CCTV was at around 9.30pm on Poynder’s Road heading in the direction of Brixton where she lives alone.
Mr Lowth lives in a flat with friends in Clapham, which is a two minute drive from Poynder’s Road.
Her father Jeremy, 67, a professor of electronics at York University, and mother Sue, 64, a charity worker, are understood to have travelled to London from their home in York. They are being helped in the search by her sister Katie and brother James.
In a statement, the family said: ‘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.’
A team from London Search and Rescue assist police on Clapham Common in south London where the investigation is based
Close friend Josh Lowth, 33, of Brixton, London, urged others to help find ‘our strong beautiful friend’ by ‘sharing this post’
The Metropolitan Police said that they would be interested in speaking to a pair of dog walkers seen on CCTV (above) in Poynders Road at 9.45pm on Wednesday March 3, 15 minutes after Miss Everard was seen walking down the road
Her uncle Nick Everard, 62, told the Evening Standard: ‘The family are absolutely distraught today and it’s getting worse as the days go on, we still have no more information.
‘I don’t know London well but I fear there could have been some bad people about who approached her. The family are searching with Sarah’s friends who have been absolutely amazing.’
Mr Everard, a building supplies director from Coventry, said that the family was awaiting more information about why his niece’s phone cut out on the night of her disappearance.
He added: ‘It’s a mystery. We are desperate to find answers.
‘Sarah is a professional marketing manager. Her life is stable and she’s travelled all over the place, all over the world.’
He added: ‘She is an intelligent and confident young woman. She has never gone missing before, so for her to disappear like this is completely out of character. We are just hoping for good news. We have to let the police do their job.’
He pleaded to any abductor to release the 33-year-old and ‘let her come home’.
Police investigating the disappearance of the 33-year-old have said a white hate found in a bush did not belong to the missing woman as the search for clues enters its fifth day. The force ruled out a connection with the hat
Police search Long Pond on Clapham Common for missing woman Sarah Everard, 33, who left a friend’s house in Clapham
Police officers use specialist equipment to search Long Pond on Clapham Common for clues to help their investigation
Mr Everard said: ‘If someone is holding her against her will I would plead with them just to be human and to let her come home, to let her talk to us, give us a ring or text to let us know she is OK.
‘These are desperate times for the family. We know the police are doing everything they can but it’s the not knowing what has happened after four days is agonising’.
Another uncle, Doug Everard, said his niece had walked along the route ‘many, many times before’ because she had been visiting a good friend.
He said she had moved to London about 12 years ago and that she also had a sister and brother who also lived in London.
He added: ‘She is lovely, a really lovely young lady, very sensible.
Specialist Met Police officers in Long Pond on Clapham Common as the search for Sarah Everard enters its fifth day
The search continued as officers from were seen searching the grounds of Poynders Gardens Estate, Clapham
Police search near Poynders Road, Clapham where missing poster asks for help to find Sarah who went missing six days ago
A police diver emerges from a pond at Poynders Gardens Estate as the extensive search for Sarah Everard continues
Met said an extensive investigation is underway, including house enquiries to establish whether there were any sightings
‘The police are keeping my brother informed and we are on the end of a phone.
‘It is a really tough time. They are devastated and they are desperate to find out anything they can.
‘None of us really know anything.
‘They have always been a very very close family. Sarah, her parents and her sister and brother, they are all in touch on a regular basis.
Jane Everard, Sarah’s aunt added: ‘She’s not somebody who is depressed or who would have run off or anything like that.
‘The friends that she visited had said that everything was well when she left.
‘When she didn’t show up [to meet her boyfriend], he then spoke to the family and the alarm was raised because it was so out of character for her not to be in touch with anybody, friends or family.’
Sarah Everard’s sister shared a heartfelt plea on her Instagram page as she thanked supporters who have helped so far
An appeal poster in Brixton, south London, for information on missing Sarah Everard, 33
Police search Poynders Gardens Estate in Clapham, London, on Monday morning shortly before a cordon was set up nearby
Scotland Yard is still treating the case as a missing person’s inquiry but last night said it was ‘open-minded as to all possibilities’.
The Metropolitan Police said that they would be interested in speaking to a pair of dog walkers seen on CCTV (above) in Poynders Road at 9.45pm on Wednesday March 3, 15 minutes after Miss Everard was seen walking down the road.
A spokesman said: ‘We continue to appeal to anyone who may have seen Sarah to come forward.’
Specialist police officers in diving gear yesterday searched a pond and combed through a park close to Miss Everard’s last known location.
A police source told the Evening Standard: ‘It’s like she just disappeared into thin air (after the last CCTV sighting).
‘We think she went up Poynders Road because it’s usually busy and safer than the back routes.’
Police have been carrying out door-to-door inquiries in the hope of finding further information, having admitted they do not know if Miss Everard made it back to her house.
Ms Everard was last seen wearing a green rain jacket, navy blue trousers, a white hat, and turquoise and orange trainers
A police boat with a search dog traverses the Mount pond and its island for any signs of Sarah Everard who has disappeared
This is the second day in a row police officers have headed out in a boat with a sniffer dog to search bodies of water for clues
Police carry out search of a pond on Clapham Common with a sniffer dog as they look for clues
Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin said: ‘This is definitely a missing person investigation at the moment but I remain open-minded as to all possibilities in the investigation.’
‘We’ve spoken to over 750 different people and addresses have been visited. We’ve received over a hundred calls so far.’
She said police had reviewed hours of CCTV around Ms Everard’s movements on the night she was last seen and appealed for drivers to come forward with dashcam footage.
CCTV footage showed Miss Everard, who is 5ft 4in, entering a Sainsbury’s store earlier in the evening, where she bought a bottle of wine to bring to her friend’s house.
Ms Everard is thought to have walked across Clapham Common, and was due to arrive home in Brixton 50 minutes later but has not been seen since she left her friends house that evening
Met Police were joined by London Search and Rescue volunteers who said they had been searching Clapham Common
Pictured: A team seen searching undergrowth yesterday. She is thought to have left Leathwaite Road through a back gate
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting CAD 3309/06MAR. Information can also be provided anonymously by calling the Missing People charity on 116 000.
People with information can also contact the incident room on 0208 785 8244 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
