A man in Texas has been arrested for strangling and dismembering this beautiful woman who was only 19 years old and then trying to kill himself by setting his flat on fire.

The incident took place in the city of Houston, which is located in the southern US state of Texas, when the young woman disappeared at approximately 3am on 6th February.

A suspect was arrested on Saturday 19th February. The Houston Police Department (HPD) released a statement obtained by Newsflash in which it said that Henry David Cossette, 28, had been charged with murder, arson and tampering with or fabricating evidence.

HPD Homicide Division Sergeant M. Holbrook and Detective J. Roscoe are quoted in the statement as saying: “The HPD Missing Persons Unit opened an investigation into the disappearance of Sara Goodwin, who was last seen near the above address on February 6.

“Last Saturday (February 19), HPD patrol officers and Houston Fire Department emergency personnel responded to an intentionally set fire in an apartment.”

The victim is believed to be a woman named Sara Goodwin, 19, and the suspect is accused of having strangled her to death before dismembering her lifeless corpse and hiding her body parts.

The HPD has said that the human remains are being analysed by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, which is attempting to confirm the identity of the victim.

The HPD said: “While the identity of the deceased woman is pending official verification, information provided by Cossette led detectives to believe the body is of Sara Goodwin.”

After allegedly strangling the young woman to death, Cossette then allegedly set fire to his own apartment in a failed suicide, police say.

Cossette was set to go before a judge on Tuesday (22nd February), but due to unspecified medical reasons, he was reportedly unable to appear.

Cossette is currently being held in jail on a USD-1.2-million (GBP-883,000) bond. No motive had been given for the crime at the time of writing.

Some media outlets gave the victim’s age as 18.