Magnificence influencer Stefanie Pieper has died at age 31 — and a number of folks have been arrested in connection along with her dying.
Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported on Saturday, November 29, that Pieper’s ex-boyfriend was apprehended in Slovenia within the neighborhood of his burning automotive.
As soon as in custody, he reportedly confessed to strangling Pieper and led authorities to her physique in a close-by forest, hidden inside a suitcase.
Austria’s Styrian State Police initially confirmed that Pieper had gone lacking on Sunday, November 23, after attending a Christmas celebration. Family members reached out to authorities when she didn’t present up at work for a modeling picture shoot.
Native information retailers Oe24 and 20 Minuten reported that Pieper did initially verify in with pals after coming back from a Christmas celebration in Graz, Austria, on Sunday. Nonetheless, she later obtained again in contact to precise concern that somebody was in her stairwell.
Austrian information retailers reported that a few of Pieper’s neighbors heard arguing and noticed her ex-boyfriend previous to the influencer’s disappearance.
Investigators rapidly decided that Pieper’s ex-boyfriend might have had one thing to do along with her disappearance.
“Subsequent investigations led to the suspicion that the girl’s 31-year-old ex-boyfriend may be linked to her disappearance,” Styrian State Police mentioned in an announcement. “The person is believed to have traveled to Slovenia a number of instances in his automotive. He couldn’t be contacted by the investigating police.”
On Monday, November 24, Slovenian police have been notified that “a automotive had caught fireplace within the car parking zone of a on line casino close to the border” in Šentilj.
“This was the 31-year-old man’s automotive,” police mentioned on the time. “He was discovered within the fast neighborhood of the burning automobile and arrested by the Slovenian police. Extradition to Austria has been requested.”
Extra information adopted on Thursday, November 29, when Austrian state police confirmed that two of the suspect’s male kin had been detained on the Graz-Jakomini correctional facility in Austria resulting from a danger of obstruction of justice. Native media later recognized these two different members of the family because the suspect’s brother and stepfather.
“Two extra males from the suspect’s household circle have been arrested in Austria. The detainees are in police custody and are being questioned,” police mentioned in an announcement.
At the moment, Austrian police performed a “forensic examination of the ex-boyfriend’s automotive [that] yielded no clues” concerning the alleged homicide.
“The investigation is being performed in each Slovenia and Austria, and there’s shut cooperation between the 2 authorities,” the Styrian State Police have mentioned.
Austrian police additionally cautioned on Thursday: “Rumors are circulating in numerous media retailers and on-line platforms that the lacking girl has been present in Slovenia. A number of media inquiries check with this rumor. The Styrian police can not verify this rumor.”
Pieper’s physique was finally present in a Serbian forest. The suspect himself was extradited to Austria to face interrogation on Friday, November 29, however a motive has but to be decided.
Representatives for Austrian and Slovenian police, in addition to the Graz Public Prosecutor’s Workplace, are anticipated to carry a joint press convention with updates on the case on Sunday, November 30.
Pieper was an influencer, make-up artist and aspiring singer in her native Austria. She amassed greater than 47,000 followers by way of Instagram.
