Saudi agents may have used acid to dissolve Khashoggi's remains, according to new, gruesome reports

CCTV/Hurriyet via AP

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has not been seen since October 2. Here's surveillance footage purporting to show Khashoggi entering the consulate that day.

• Warning: This post contains descriptions of graphic violence and mutilation.
• Jamal Khashoggi's body may have been dissolved with acid after he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, multiple outlets have cited investigators as saying.
• The Saudi journalist's remains might have then been transported to the Saudi consul's house, investigators reportedly said.
• Khashoggi has not been seen since he entered the consulate on October 2.
• Turkish officials have continuously leaked details implicating Saudi Arabia in the possible murder. Riyadh continues to deny knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts.

The body of disappeared and likely murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have been dissolved with acid, multiple outlets report.

Khashoggi, who wrote critical columns about his country for The Washington Post, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 and has not been seen since. A mounting pile of evidence suggests he was killed there.

One theory that investigators in Turkey are pursuing is that Khashoggi's remains were destroyed in a "very fast-acting chemical acid," Sky News reported on Thursday.

Their report cited an unnamed source close to an investigation into Khashoggi. Sky did not say which country he was working for.

It comes as multiple news outlets reported, citing Turkish investigators, that Khashoggi was dismembered and his remains transported to the official residence of Saudi Arabia's consul in Istanbul, Mohammed al Otaibi.

Associated Press/Virginia Mayo

Khashoggi in 2011.

Kemal Ozturk, a former press advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Wednesday said Khashoggi's body might have been "vaporized" somewhere between the Saudi consulate and Otaibi's house, citing unnamed security sources.

That theory "is gaining ground," Ozturk wrote in his column for Turkey's pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper, adding that the vaporization "could have been done with barrels full of acid or some other way."

Turkish investigators on Thursday finished searching the Saudi consul's official residence in Istanbul. A video of them leaving the residence, published by Yeni Safak, showed an official with apparent blood stains on his hazmat suit.

Yeni Safak

A Turkish crime scene investigator seen with blood stains on his hazmat suit while finishing an investigation into the Saudi consul's official residence over Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance.

The theory that Khashoggi's body was destroyed with acid came as news outlets reported further gruesome details of the journalist's alleged murder, citing unnamed Turkish officials.

Ankara also claims to have graphic audio and video footage of Khashoggi's alleged killing. But it has not shared any of it with the US or European allies, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing seven US and European security officials.

An unnamed senior Turkish official told The New York Times on Wednesday that a Saudi agent beat and tortured Khashoggi in the Saudi consul's office, and eventually cut off his fingers. The Turkish official added that the agent later cut off Khashoggi's head and dismembered his body.

Turkish security officials also told the paper last week that a team of Saudi agents brought a bone saw into the consulate, and described the alleged killing as "like 'Pulp Fiction.'"

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal cited Turkish officials as saying that Saudi agents beat, drugged, killed, and dismembered Khashoggi in front of Otaibi, the Saudi consul.

Kemal Aslan/Reuters

Turkish police officers examine the official residence of Saudi consul Mohammed al Otaibi on October 18, 2018.

Turkish officials have continuously leaked, albeit anonymously, horrific details of the alleged murder, and appeared to hold Saudi Arabia responsible for it.

The Saudis, meanwhile, have continuously denied knowledge of his whereabouts and even expressed concern for Khashoggi's wellbeing.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubted that Turkish officials had audio and video recordings of Khashoggi's last moments.

Khashoggi's editor at The Washington Post, Karen Attiah, published his final column on Thursday with the note: "The Post held off publishing it because we hoped Jamal would come back to us so that he and I could edit it together. Now I have to accept: That is not going to happen."