(CNN) โ 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 โ 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 โacting suspiciouslyโ 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 โman wanted in connection with the incident had traveled to Bristol from London earlier the same day.โ 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. โHe 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,โ 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. โThis is not the same man we are appealing for,โ police said.
Vicks Hayward-Melen, acting Bristol commander of Avon and Somerset Police, told the BBCโs Today program Friday that officers and initial attendants at the scene are being supported after the โreally horrendous discovery.โ
The police said that, at this time, it is โnot aware of any current risk to the wider public,โ It also said high-visibility patrols are being carried out in the area.
โOur immediate priority is to locate the man who took the suitcases to the bridge, identify the deceased, and inform their next of kin,โ the police said.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge visitor center was closed on Thursday due to the police activity, the UKโs PA Media news agency reported.
Local lawmaker Carla Denyer said she was โdeeply disturbed by the horrifying discoveryโ of human remains at the bridge. โDistressing events like this are unsettling for all of us who call Bristol home and are proud of our city,โ the Green Party MP for Bristol Central said on X.
The-CNN-Wire
โข & ยฉ 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.