According to British police, the human remains found in two suitcases at the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol belong to the two adult men, and the main suspect arrived with the suitcases from London.
Following the gruesome discovery of the remains near the bridge on Thursday, detectives launched a major manhunt after receiving reports of a man carrying a suitcase acting suspiciously on the bridge shortly before midnight on Wednesday.
The London Metropolitan Police announced that they had now taken over the manhunt and that a crime scene had been secured in west London.
According to police, it is believed that the suspect had travelled from the British capital to Bristol in southwest England earlier that day and taken a taxi to the bridge with the suitcases.
“We can confirm that forensic autopsies are still being carried out on the remains found in the two suitcases, but they are believed to be the remains of two adult males,” acting Bristol Commander Vicks Hayward-Melen told reporters on Friday.
“It is important to stress that her identity has not yet been officially established and that efforts to locate and speak with her next of kin are a top priority.”
Police said an initial autopsy had not produced any conclusive results and that further tests were underway.
The Daily Mail newspaper reported that a US tourist and his wife were waiting for a taxi near the bridge and saw two men struggling to carry heavy suitcases across the road.
The couple told the newspaper that a passerby came to their aid and asked about the weight of the bags: “What’s in them? Bodies?”
One of Bristol’s most famous landmarks, the suspension bridge was built to a design by the famous 19th-century engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1864.