Sarah Everard’s parents and brother and sister watch as inquest opened

Ms Everard went missing on March 3 while walking home after visiting a friend in south London.
Floral tributes left next to the bandstand in Clapham Common, London, for Sarah Everard (Kirsty O'Connor/PA)
PA Wire
Michael Drummond18 March 2021

Sarah Everard’s parents and brother and sister watched proceedings on Thursday as an inquest into the death of the 33-year-old was opened in Kent

Inquiries as to her cause of death are still under way after an initial post-mortem examination was inconclusive, a coroner said.

Senior coroner Patricia Harding opened the inquest in Maidstone Kent as police continue their investigations.

The hearing took less than half an hour and saw inquest proceedings opened and adjourned pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.

Sarah Everard (Family/PA)
PA Media

Ms Harding gave her condolences to the family members viewing proceedings.

Ms Everard went missing on March 3 while walking home after visiting a friend in south London

Her body was found in woodland near Ashford in Kent a week later, and serving police officer Wayne Couzens 48, from Deal, also in Kent, has been charged with her murder.

Elsewhere in the county, a large police presence has been seen in the town of Sandwich in recent days as officers continue to search for clues.

Giving evidence at the brief hearing, acting Detective Inspector Lee Tullett said police had worked to plot Ms Everard’s route home on March 3.

He told the coroner that she had made a 15-minute call to her boyfriend that ended around 9.27pm.

He added: “There was no further activity on her phone.

“There was no social media presence and she failed to attend a meeting at work the following day.

“This was all very much out of character.”

A missing person’s inquiry was launched and continued as police conducted searches, viewed CCTV and conducted local inquiries.

The inquest heard that more than one post mortem has so far been commissioned and that police are still awaiting the final results.

Ms Harding said: “The body of Sarah has now been released to her family in order that a funeral can take place.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in