:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/river-Seine-in-Paris-082125-1-1a9ff13560a24bc3b8a5e448d8bfc1cf.jpg)
NEED TO KNOW
- Two suspects have been taken into custody by authorities in France after four bodies were found in the River Seine in Paris
- Two of the bodies reportedly showed signs of injury, including strangulation, prompting officials to open two murder investigations
- A 24-year-old man from Algeria and a second man believed to have been in his entourage have so far been arrested in connection with the case
Two suspects have reportedly been arrested after several bodies were found in the River Seine in Paris.
The arrests come one week after a passerby found the bodies in the water in the southeastern suburb of Choisy-le-Roi in Paris on Aug. 13 and reported the sighting to police, according to BBC News and local media outlets Le Monde and Le Parisien.
Police were dispatched to the area and found the body of a 40-year-old man from the neighboring town of Créteil, who was not identified, per BBC News and Le Parisien. Police searched the area and found three more bodies nearby, per the outlets.
The Créteil prosecutor’s office told Le Parisien that the three bodies were believed to have been “three adult men,” and that two of the bodies appeared to be young men in their twenties of North African origin.
BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty
Officials noted, per Le Monde, that the first body found by the passerby had been “relatively well-preserved” — indicating that it had not been in the water for long — while the other three were in “a very advanced state of decomposition.”
Officials also noted per Le Monde and BBC News that two of the bodies showed signs of injury, with one of the victims having had signs of strangulation and the other having had other violent injuries. This prompted police to open a murder investigation into the deaths.
The Créteil prosecutor’s office told Le Monde and Le Parisien that on Wednesday, Aug. 20, police arrested a 24-year-old suspect born in Algeria in connection to the murders.
“A man was taken into custody this morning on suspicion for multiple murders at the headquarters of the criminal brigade of the Paris judicial police,” the Créteil prosecutor’s office told Le Monde in a statement.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Antoine Gyori – Corbis/Corbis via Getty
Due to the charge of multiple murders — which is a special serial crimes designation — police have the authority to question their suspect for 96 hours, per Le Monde and Le Parisien.
A second suspect — who was believed to have been part of the same entourage as the first suspect and frequented the same places as him — was reportedly taken into custody on Thursday, Aug. 21, according to Le Parisien. No other details have been released about this suspect.
The prosecutors said that their initial investigation found no evidence of a link between the victims found in the river, per BBC News. They noted that the bodies may have been submerged in different places along the Seine before the currents brought them to the Choisy bridge.
