Met Police believe Abdul Ezedi, the Afghan migrant who allegedly threw acid on a mother and her 3-year-old child in South London, has drowned in River Thames after they reviewed surveillance footage across the capital.
Detectives have revealed that Ezedi, 35, was last seen on CCTV footage crossing the Chelsea Bridge on the night of the attack on January 31 and never reappearing, leading them to believe he jumped into the River Thames, The Times reports.
He has not been seen in person since the attack which left the mother and child in the hospital in critical condition. The mother is still sedated as of Friday and may lose sight in her right eye. 12 people total were injured in the attack including police officers, bystanders and good Samaritans.
Jon Savell, a Metropolitan Police commander, said on Friday: "We have spent the last 24 hours meticulously following the CCTV and it’s our main working hypothesis that he’s now gone into the water. We have looked at all of the available cameras and angles and with the assistance of Transport for London and CCTV from buses that were travelling over the bridge at the relevant time, there is no sighting of him coming off the bridge."
If he did jump into the river, Savell said his body would likely never be found.
"As you can appreciate, particularly at this time of year, the Thames is very fast flowing, very wide and full of lots of snags," he added. "It is quite likely that he won’t appear for maybe up to a month and it’s not beyond the possibility that he may never actually surface so we are in contact with a member of his family as we speak in order to break that news."
Detective superintendent Rick Sewart said that Ezedi's movements were tracked from Tower Hill and ascertained he walked "with purpose" along the Thames to Chelsea Bridge.
Once there, Ezedi, "pauses in the midpoint of the bridge, halfway down the bridge and he walks to and from the side of the bridge and can be seen to lean over the road railings before there is a loss of sight," Sewart said. "It’s possible that he could have taken his own life, given the circumstances."
