A 35-year-old Syrian national was arrested this week for the murder of a 17-year-old German girl whose body was discovered by police five days after she had been reported missing.
The family of 17-year-old Tabitha E. reported her disappearance last week from her home in the town of Asperg and last Friday police began an intensive search for the missing teenager with dogs, drones and helicopters, only to find her body over the weekend by a local sewage treatment plant just miles from her home.
Police became suspicious of the 35-year-old Syrian living in the region and not only searched his apartment but also confiscated his vehicle, a BMW 320, as part of the investigation and took him into custody in connection with the murder, German tabloid Bild reports.
Investigators believe the vehicle is connected to the disappearance and subsequent alleged murder of the teenager and note that the Syrian national has been silent while in custody but did not say whether or not he has a prior criminal background.
An autopsy was carried out and the results were released on Wednesday, with investigators saying that there was no evidence of a sexual crime but there were various indications of violence.
German Court Rejects Appeal by Iraqi Who Raped and Murdered Teen Girl https://t.co/5ZQucHVUWs
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The victim is also alleged to have known the Syrian suspect according to a neighbour of the 35-year-old and the teen is said to have visited his home often.
“This has been going on for a year. We thought the Syrian was much younger, especially since he had young people with him again and again in the past. On Saturday, he was taken away by the police. We thought it was a drug story because it had always smelled so weird from its open windows,” the neighbour said.
The alleged murder would just be the latest to involve a migrant in Germany killing a teenage girl, with the most well-known case being that of teen Maria Ladenburger who was raped and killed in 2016 by an Afghan migrant who claimed to be underage but was really an adult.
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