Hong Kong (CNN) police in Hong Kong They said they arrested the ex-husband of model and influencer Abby Choi, after parts of her dismembered body were discovered in a rental unit north of the city.
Choi, 28, was reported missing on Wednesday, and pieces of her body were found on Friday along with a meat slicer, an electric saw and some clothes at the unit in Tai Po District on Friday afternoon, according to police.
Police Superintendent Alan Chung told a press conference on Saturday that the model’s ex-husband was arrested while trying to escape at a pier in Tung Chung on one of the city’s remote Lantau islands and taken into custody.
Police Superintendent Chung said police believed he had intended to escape by waterway at the time of his arrest.
Chung said the ex-husband, his brother and his parents – who were arrested on Friday – are being held for questioning while the police continue to search for the remaining body parts of Choi.
Choi was reported missing on Wednesday, and has not been seen since the previous day.
Police said the investigation, including the cause of death, is still ongoing.
More than 100 police were sent to search Tseung Kwan O’s Chinese permanent cemetery on Saturday, including a diving team deployed to a nearby water basin.
Abby Choi arrives at the Zuhair Murad Spring-Summer 2023 fashion show at Hotel Potocki in Paris, France, in January 2023.
As a model, Choi has enjoyed international shows and was photographed at the Elie Saab Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show in Paris, France, as recently as last month. She also recently appeared as the digital cover model for luxury magazine L’Officiel Monaco and attended this year’s Paris Fashion Week.
Choi, who has also been known as a social media influencer, has nearly 100,000 followers on her Instagram account, which features photos of her posing with various luxury brands in locations from London to Paris and Shanghai and on yachts in Hong Kong. In her autobiography, she wrote that she “embraces every moment of life”.
Police added that Choi left behind a son and a daughter from her ex-husband, who will be placed in the care of the model’s mother.
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