Man arrested in connection with human remains found in suitcases

<i>Yat Him Wong/Cover Images/AP via CNN Newsource</i><br/>Human remains found in suitcases by Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol.

By CNN Newsource

Published July 11, 2024 1:19 PM

By Catherine Nicholls, Sugam Pokharel and Benjamin Brown, CNN

(CNN) — London police have arrested a 36-year-old man in connection with human remains found in two suitcases in the southwestern city of Bristol.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement that the man was arrested in south London on Friday and taken into custody – as a hunt continues for another individual believed to be linked to the case.

The suitcases and their grisly contents were found on on Clifton Suspension Bridge, and are thought to be holding the remains of two people who have yet to be identified, police say.

From Bristol to London

The investigation began when Avon and Somerset Police received a call late on Wednesday about a man with a suitcase “acting suspiciously” on the bridge in Bristol. The suitcases were later found in the area, Avon and Somerset Police said on Thursday.

Authorities later said that a “man wanted in connection with the incident had traveled to Bristol from London earlier the same day.” Police have not yet identified or located that individual, despite a large-scale search involving the police helicopter and coastguard, police said in a statement.

Police on Thursday released a photo of the man they were seeking. “He is described as Black with a beard. He was wearing a black Adidas baseball cap, black jeans, a black jacket, black trainers with thick white soles and had a black backpack,” Avon and Somerset Police said in a statement.

The person arrested on Friday is not the same individual as the one police were initially looking for. “This is not the same man we are appealing for,” police said.

Vicks Hayward-Melen, acting Bristol commander of Avon and Somerset Police, told the BBC’s Today program Friday that officers and initial attendants at the scene are being supported after the “really horrendous discovery.”

The police said that, at this time, it is “not aware of any current risk to the wider public,” It also said high-visibility patrols are being carried out in the area.

“Our immediate priority is to locate the man who took the suitcases to the bridge, identify the deceased, and inform their next of kin,” the police said.

The Clifton Suspension Bridge visitor center was closed on Thursday due to the police activity, the UK’s PA Media news agency reported.

Local lawmaker Carla Denyer said she was “deeply disturbed by the horrifying discovery” of human remains at the bridge. “Distressing events like this are unsettling for all of us who call Bristol home and are proud of our city,” the Green Party MP for Bristol Central said on X.