[Matt08]

COPS in Brazil say they have found the remains of a 17-year-old British girl chopped up inside a suitcase.

Officers found body parts belonging to Cara Marie Burke in Goiania, in central Brazil, on Monday, said Lenita Alves de Brito, a spokeswoman for the Goias state police.

The teenager's friend Dioli Mohammed, a British citizen of Turkish descent, has been arrested.

The pair travelled to Brazil on tourist visas about three months ago, Brito said.

The Foreign Office has confirmed the death and said that Miss Burke's next of kin have been informed.

Karine Neves, a spokeswoman for the British Embassy in Brasilia, did not immediately have more information about what Burke was doing in Brazil or how long she had been in the country.

The chief of police in Goias, Jose Maria da Silva, told Sky News that the body parts were identified by a distinguishing tattoo.

Police then searched for her boyfriend, he said.

“He confessed (to) the crime,” he said. “He did not show any regret.”

Mr da Silva said Cara was murdered on Sunday night.

He added: “The mother of the victim lives in London.

“She already knows this sad news.

“I don’t know what she is planning to do.”

Goiania is the capital and the largest city in the state of Goias, in the central-western region of Brazil.

Neves said a British vice consul is in Goiania, tracking the case and the police investigation.

Source: The Sun