THE mystery surrounding the human remains found on Clifton Suspension Bridge has deepened after a witness says they saw two men and a woman lugging suitcases.
An American tourist joked with two men struggling across a road with heavy suitcases near a bridge where human remains were found, saying: “Have you got a body in there?”
Giles Malone was waiting for a taxi when he met two men and a woman who were dragging two heavy bags just 300 metres from Clifton Suspension Bridge.
It is unclear if the woman was connected with the two men or if she was unwittingly helping them.
She is also said to have joked with the men about the suitcases containing bodies, reports suggest.
Giles chatted briefly to them and even remarked: “Those look very heavy, what have you got in there, a body?”
The famous crossing has become the centre of a manhunt after human body parts were found dumped in two suitcases there on Wednesday night.
Giles was waiting for an Uber around 11pm outside the Mall pub in Clifton when he spotted the trio taking bags from a silver saloon.
Just under an hour later police were called to the bridge over claims a man was acting suspiciously.
An eyewitness saw the man dragging a bag with “red liquid” seeping out of it.
Officers found one suitcase and then another nearby which contained human remains – but the suspect had vanished.
Police cordoned off the bridge and launched a manhunt with a helicopter but they have failed to track him down.
US-based journalist Giles, 61, who was visiting his father in Clifton, said he had spent the evening watching England beat Holland in the European Championship semi-final.
He said: “We had been at our father’s flat in Clifton and left about 10.30 to catch an Uber outside his house.
“We walked up towards The Mall pub and saw two men struggling with a huge darkish brown trunk.
“They looked as though they had taken it from a silver-coloured family car which had its boot open and were trying to cross the road with it.
“I thought about giving them a hand but they were young men and although it was heavy they were coping with it.
“I joked to them: ‘What have you got in there, a body?’
“But neither of them answered me.
“A woman who I can’t be sure was known to them helped them to carry another suitcase across the road and she said: ‘It’s the heaviest suitcase I’ve picked up.
“There could be a body inside I suppose.
“At this point our Uber driver arrived and they were trying to get into it but I had to show them on my phone that the Uber was for us.
“The black man said that he was waiting for a taxi also but I just pushed my wife into the Uber and we drove off.”
The whole encounter was only about six minutes and Giles and his wife, Alison, thought all they had witnessed was nothing more than people moving heavy suitcases.
The following morning when Giles went to pick up his father to take him across the Clifton Suspension Bridge to play golf, his route was blocked by a police cordon.
Giles said: “My father told me that there was a big news story because human remains had been found in two suitcases earlier that morning.
“My wife and I looked at each other and both had the same thought – had we been just a few inches away from those responsible for this horrific find.
“My father said I should contact the police to tell them what had happened the night before and then spent the next six hours telling them what I saw.”
Giles told the police that one of the men was black, aged between 25-35, of medium build.
He was clean shaven with short hair and was wearing skinny denim jeans. He was not wearing a cap.
The white man he described as being similar age with blonde or light brown hair but couldn’t remember what clothes he was wearing.
The woman was also, white wearing a jacket and had a distinctive ponytail pulled over one side of her head.
Giles added: “When I saw the news on Thursday night and the image of the man police wanted to speak to in connection with the incident, my wife and I were both pretty certain it wasn’t the black man we had witnessed struggling with the heavy suitcase.
“I rang the police detective who I was dealing with to tell them that but they didn’t make any comment.
Speaking from the scene on Thursday afternoon, Acting Bristol Commander Vicks Hayward-Melen said: “Sadly, the suitcases contained human remains.
“The searches remain ongoing.
“Our immediate priority is to locate the man who took suitcases to the bridge, identify the deceased and inform the next of kin.
“An immediate search of the area was carried out by officers on the ground with the support of the National Police Air Service and HM Coastguard following the discovery of the suitcases.
“Initial inquiries have established the man was taken to the bridge in a taxi.
“This vehicle has been seized and the driver is helping us with our inquiries.
“Specialist crime scene investigators are currently examining the bridge and surrounding area, and the bridge will remain closed while these inquiries are conducted.”
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the person found in that suitcase and their family.
“It has really shook us up and quite can’t believe that we came within inches of such a horrible episode.
“It’s like something out of a horror film. These people were acting just so calmly and even when I joked with them about there being a body in the suitcase they didn’t give anything away.”
Giles said the heavier of the two suitcases was more like a dark brownish trunk with straps around it while the other suitcase which was carried by the woman was more silvery blue.
He said: “The only thing that seemed odd was the two men put the heavier suitcase down on the side of the road and the other suitcase was put on top of it.
“That seemed a little off to me looking back on it, but all we wanted to do was to get back to my brother’s place where we were staying.”
The Sun understands a second black man was involved who Giles did not see.
Police confirmed the man, who they have released a picture of, took a cab from outside the Mall pub to the bridge with the suitcases.
He was then challenged by bridge security staff and a cyclist who chased him off.
The man was last seen escaping towards Leigh Woods on the western side of the Bridge away from Bristol.
Acting Bristol Commander Vicks Hayward-Melen previously said at the scene she could not confirm whether or not the remains were of more than one person.
She was also asked about parallels between the incident and Jack O’Sullivan’s case, the university student who went missing more than four months ago after attending a party in Bristol.
The police chief added: “I understand the parallels that might be made with Jack’s case and we would ask anybody to avoid any speculation at this time.
“What I can confirm is just because of the nature of the incident and the concerns that people may have, a senior officer has been in contact with Jack’s family to inform them of the incident, but I can confirm at this time that no parallels are being actively drawn.”
