The child's body was found in the forest about 2.5 kilometers from her parents' house.
Points of attention
- The body of a 9-year-old Ukrainian girl was found in a forest near the town of Debeln in Germany.
- The police are investigating the murder and found no evidence of a sexual crime against the girl.
- Valeria's parents are divorced, and her father is serving at the front. After the disappearance of the child, he was given leave and allowed to go to Germany.
German police confirmed the death of 9-year-old Ukrainian Valeria
The German police confirmed at a briefing that the body found on June 11 in a forest near the town of Debeln (Saxony) belongs to the missing Ukrainian girl Valeria.
This is sad news. The deceased is the missing nine-year-old Valeria. She became the victim of a crime. We are investigating the murder, said Police Commissioner Carsten Kempf.
According to the police, the dead child was found far from the forest paths, in the undergrowth in the cross-country.
Our investigation is currently focused on the social circle of the family, — said the press secretary of the prosecutor's office Ingrid Burghart. There are no suspects or arrests yet.
After the investigation and autopsy, the police found no evidence that the girl was the victim of a sexual crime.
What preceded it
Nine-year-old Valeria disappeared on June 3 — she left the house to take the bus to school but never showed up. The school did not sound the alarm because of her absence, so the girl's mother only noticed her daughter's disappearance in the evening and informed the police about 6:30 p.m. the same day.
Valeria was not found on the surveillance cameras; the bus drivers do not remember her. Therefore, it is unknown whether the girl got on the school bus.
The girl and her mother have been living in Germany since 2022. Valeria's parents are divorced, and her father serves at the front. After the disappearance of the child, he was given leave and allowed to go to Germany.
