Witness saw men struggle with 'big' and 'tatty' cases before body parts found in Clifton

A man has described seeing two people struggling to lift heavy suitcases in the Clifton area of Bristol in the hours before human remains were found nearby.

Giles Malone was waiting for an Uber near The Mall pub - just a few hundred metres from where the body parts were found at Clifton Suspension Bridge - when he saw two men lifting suitcases across the road.

“My wife and I were watching the football game with my dad in Clifton Village. We left my dad’s flat at 10.30pm after the football game and were waiting for an Uber car on the corner.

“We were stood there waiting for our car and a man and another man got out of another car across the street and they were lifting these suitcases across the road for some reason, right by us.

“Another lady started to help them and the lady who was helping them said ‘these are the heaviest suitcases I’ve ever lifted - what’s in them, bodies? And we sort of semi-joked about it but they [the men] didn’t say anything about it.”

• Witness describes seeing men struggle with suitcases in Clifton

Mr Malone, who lives in North Carolina but is in Bristol visiting his father, described the cases as “tatty” and “big”.

He said he only learned human remains had been found when he attempted to drive to meet his father the following morning.

“My dad said ‘oh it’s because there’s national news, there’s been some suitcases found’," he said.

“I looked at my wife and said ‘I wonder if that’s a coincidence from last night’.”

Avon and Somerset Police's Major Crime team is investigating after what police believe to be human remains were found in two suitcases at Clifton Suspension Bridge. The bridge remains closed.

Police say they received a report of a man with a suitcase "acting suspiciously" on the bridge at 11.57pm.

When police arrived 10 minutes later, the man was no longer in the area but had left the suitcase behind. A second suitcase was found nearby a short time later.

Police say their priority is now locating the man involved and identifying the deceased.

Police have described the man as black with a beard and say he was wearing a black Adidas baseball cap, black jeans, a black jacket, white trainers and had a black backpack.

Initial enquiries established the man was taken to the bridge in a taxi. This vehicle has been seized and the driver is helping police with their enquiries.

Acting Bristol Commander Vicks Hayward-Melen described the incident as "very disturbing".

She said: "I fully recognise the concern it will be causing our communities.

"The investigation is being led by our Major Crime Investigation Team and involved specialist officers and staff from across our organisation.

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

"Specialist officers are ready to provide them with any support they need."

Anyone with any information should call 101 and quote reference 5224180010.