Cops: London Attacker's Body Might Never Be Found

Two bodies have been discovered in the search for a man accused of throwing a corrosive substance on his ex-partner and her children in London, though neither belongs to Abdul Ezedi, now presumed dead. The Afghan refugee who'd traveled 280 miles from Newcastle to attack a 31-year-old woman and her two daughters, aged 3 and 8, on Jan. 31, was seen pacing on London's Chelsea Bridge hours later, police said Friday, per the Guardian and Independent. CCTV cameras lost sight of him after he was seen leaning over the bridge's railing. "I'm prepared to say that he's gone into the water—and if he's gone into the water, then [death is] the most probable outcome," Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Rick Sewart said Friday, per the Guardian.

While searching the River Thames on Saturday, police discovered the bodies of two men, but neither was Ezedi's. Police described the deaths as "unexpected pending further inquiries." Though authorities continue to call for Ezedi to surrender to potential charges of attempted murder, they say it's likely he's been dead for the past two weeks and possible he may never be found. "At this time of year, the Thames is very fast flowing, very wide and full of lots of snags," Met Police Commander Jon Savell said Friday. "It is quite likely that if he has gone in the water, he won't appear for maybe up to a month, and it's not beyond possibility that he may never actually surface."

Savell noted Ezedi—who was twice denied asylum in the UK before successfully appealing the rejection despite a 2018 conviction for a sex offense—was a victim of his own attack, having suffered injuries to the right side of his face that might've been fatal if left untreated, per the Mirror. A dozen people were injured overall. The woman targeted by Ezedi following a breakdown in their relationship remains in "critical but stable condition" in a hospital, police said, noting she is "unable to speak" and may lose sight in her right eye. Her children—who "weren't as seriously injured as originally thought," per the AP—have been discharged from the hospital. (More London stories.)