DNA from headless torso matches missing Swedish journalist Kim Wall

By KwakMin-jung Posted : August 24, 2017, 17:48 Updated : August 24, 2017, 17:48

[Courtesy Kim Wall / Facebook]


Kim Wall, a Swedish 30-year-old freelance journalist, vanished after a trip on a submarine built by a 46-year-old Danish inventor, Peter Madsen. He initially claimed that he dropped Wall off on land before his submarine sunk on August 10.

Madsen had to be rescued after his home-built submarine malfunctioned and sunk off Denmark eastern coast. He claimed his innocence and told the news media that his beloved machine foundered due to technical issues. However, after his arrest, Madsen changed his story and told the authorities that Wall died in a freak accident on board, so he buried her at sea in Koge Bay near Copenhagen. 

Since a passing cyclist discovered a headless torso washed up on an island near Copenhagen, Danish authorities have been searching for the rest of journalist for days. The chief investigator Jens Moller Jensen said the limbs appeared to have "deliberately been cut off" the body, and body was punctured to prevent it from floating. 

On Wednesday, Danish police confirmed that the DNA testing conducted on the headless torso and the blood found in the sunken submarine matched Kim Wall's. 

Kim Wall interviewing Peter Madsen for his journey on building a submarine at home. She was last seen on the tower of the submarine Madsen built. 

The search for Wall's "remaining body parts and clothing" continues to help the investigators get the whole picture of what happened in the submarine.

After Wall's death was confirmed, the journalist's mother, Ingrid Wall, posted a tribute on her Facebook. She expressed her deep sorrow and said how it is still hard to grasp the reality for this magnitude. Ingrid also said her daughter's death "not only affected" immediate family but also affected "friends and colleagues all over the world". She added, "there are still a number of questions to be answered."

Ingrid Wall's post garnered over 22,000 reactions and was shared over 2,000 times.

The passionate freelance journalist, Kim Wall, studied at Columbia University majoring in International and Public Affairs. She lived in Brooklyn, New York and freelanced to many known publication companies including the New York Times, The Guardian, Harper's Magazine, and Vice Magazine. 
















Kwak, Min Jung = abiel@ajunews.com
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