Man arrested in connection to body parts found in suitcase

SAN FRANCISCO — A 60-year-old man was arrested early Saturday on murder charges in connection with an incident in which human body parts were found stuffed in a suitcase and left on a San Francisco street, police said.

Mark Andrus was booked into county jail and was awaiting a first court appearance, police said.

Andrus was taken into custody Friday evening when an anonymous tip led officers to the Tenderloin neighborhood in the city’s downtown, police said.

Officers detained two people, describing one of them as a person of interest in the homicide case.

Authorities closed off several blocks in downtown San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon after discovering the suitcase. Officers then found more remains nearby after searching the area, police said.

The San Francisco Chronicle said the city medical examiner determined that the remains belonged to a “light-skinned male,” but neither an identity nor cause of death could be immediately established.

It was not immediately known if Andrus had obtained an attorney or how he intended to plead to the murder charge.