crime
Man arrested after death of 21-year-old in Niebüll
According to initial findings, there was no previous relationship between the suspect and the victim. (Symbolic image) Photo
© Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
A young woman is found dead in a forest area near Niebüll. Investigators have now arrested a suspect. The 35-year-old comes from the same town as his victim.
Only a few days after the discovery of a dead 21-year-old woman in a forest near Niebüll in Schleswig-Holstein, the police arrested the suspected perpetrator. “We had clues that led to initial suspicion against the 35-year-old,” said the spokesman for the Flensburg public prosecutor’s office, senior public prosecutor Thorkild Petersen-Thrö, to the German Press Agency on Thursday. A search was then carried out on Wednesday and a saliva sample was taken from the suspect from Niebüll.
“The DNA match came on Thursday,” said Petersen-Thrö. Police had already arrested the man on Wednesday. A judge issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for the 35-year-old on suspicion of murder in conjunction with rape. According to the public prosecutor’s office, he is a German.
Further investigations into the motive
“At this point in time, we have no evidence of any kind of relationship,” said the senior public prosecutor. The alleged perpetrator lived some distance away from his victim. “They did not know each other,” said Petersen-Thrö. The man has not yet commented on the allegations to the investigating officers.
The motives and background of the crime are the subject of the homicide squad’s investigation. Investigators currently do not see any connection with a sexual offense reported on April 23 in Leck, about eleven kilometers away.
The 21-year-old was reported missing by her relatives on Friday after she had not contacted them as agreed. She was then discovered lifeless in a wooded area on Saturday night. According to earlier police reports, the young woman was last seen on Friday at around 8 a.m. when she left the residential facility where she lives. She had wanted to do some exercise in the Marschenpark west of Niebüll.