The gruesome case surrounding the presumed death of a 32-year-old woman from Eritrea takes another dramatic turn: investigators in Rhineland-Palatinate found the dismembered body of a woman at the weekend, missing both her hands and her head. According to German media, the discovery is directly linked to the two hands that were found on the A45 highway near Olpe on November 17.
The trail of the severed hands had led investigators early on to a woman who had last lived in asylum accommodation in Bonn. Stored fingerprints confirmed the identity at the time. The new discovery should now provide definitive certainty by means of DNA comparison. There is still no trace of the woman's head.
The fact that the woman's baby was discovered alive the day before the hands were found adds to the tragedy. A monk at the Kröffelbach monastery in Hesse had found the three-month-old baby in a baby carriage - carefully wrapped up and labeled with its name and date of birth. The child was unharmed and received immediate medical treatment.
Unusual and complex case
The background to the crime is still unclear. Investigators are not ruling out personal motives or extremist or ritualized violence. According to previous findings, the woman is said to have lived in Germany with her partner, also from Eritrea.
The partner initially disappeared and was publicly sought as a possible witness. According to media reports, he has since been arrested abroad. However, the police and public prosecutor's office have not yet officially confirmed this step.
At the same time, the police issued appeals to possible witnesses. Anyone who saw a silver car with Bonn license plates at the Kröffelbach monastery on the evening the baby was found should come forward. Information is also being sought about observations along the Olpe-Süd-Freudenberg section of the highway where the hands were discarded.
The investigation is continuing under the leadership of a Hagen police homicide squad. The authorities are talking about one of the most unusual and complex cases in recent years.
