The search continued for days for a missing nine-year-old in Saxony. Now there is a sad certainty: Valeriia was the victim of a violent crime.
The body found in a forest on Tuesday was that of the nine-year-old girl from Ukraine, police said on Wednesday. A murder is being investigated. The absolute focus is now on identifying the perpetrator or perpetrators, said Chemnitz police chief Carsten Kaempf.
“The loss of a child is heartbreaking.” According to the Public Prosecution Service, the investigation focuses on the social circle of the murdered girl. So far there is no evidence of a sexual offense, the report said.
The lifeless body was found about four kilometers from her home on Tuesday. “Far away from all forest paths, deep in the undergrowth,” said Chemnitz police chief Mandy Kürschner.
It is a forest area between Hermsdorf and Mahlitzsch. “Without the search measures we would not have found Valeriia to this day,” Kürschner said. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the place where it was found was also the crime scene.
More than 400 police forces from Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt searched for the girl on Tuesday. The Mulde River was combed and residents were interviewed. Special dogs, a helicopter and divers had also been deployed in recent days and so-called super recognizers had viewed masses of images and videos.
The people in Döbeln were asked to look for the girl in their own garden, cellar, garage or shed. In addition, private search parties had been formed in the city, which has approximately 24,000 inhabitants.
The girl, originally from Ukraine, has lived with her mother in Germany since 2022. According to the information, the father is still in Ukraine. The police had investigated in all directions. There was also close contact with his father. Valeriia was last seen on June 3 on her way to school. But she never got there.
Source: Krone
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