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Date Published: 07/12/2021
ARCHIVED - Family of expat believed to have been dismembered by partner in Torrevieja will provide DNA
Police in the Vega Baja, Alicante province, want to confirm body parts found dumped in a rubbish bin belong to the 68-year-old Finnish woman
The family of a Finnish woman police believe was killed, dismembered and disposed of by her partner in Torrevieja will send DNA to help confirm the identity of the victim whose limbs were discovered in a bin.
On October 28, a homeless man made the gruesome discovery of a woman's arms and legs whilst searching for food in a large wheelie bin in Calle Canovas, next to a commercial and residential area.
Detectives were immediately sent to the scene, and initial inquiries led them to believe the body parts belonged to a 68-year-old Finnish woman.
Her 70-year-old partner, also Finnish, was identified as a suspect after being captured allegedly loitering around the waste bin on supermarket CCTV, and he was arrested a few hours later.
A search of the couple's home unearthed further body parts, and the expat pensioner confessed that he had dismembered and disposed of his partner's body.
Tests were carried out to confirm the identity of the victim, but investigators are now waiting for genetic material from relatives in Finland to compare the DNA to fully confirm the body parts belong to the 68-year-old woman.
Following the discovery of the dismembered legs and arm, an exhaustive search was carried out to find the rest of the woman's body, concentrating on large bins across Torrevieja and at the Piedra Negra waste management plant in Xixona, which is where the town's rubbish ends up.
To date, however, no further body parts nor the victim's head have been found.
Police sources have confirmed that until DNA samples from the pensioner's Finnish relatives are scientifically confirmed as a match, the deceased will "remain a possible victim of domestic violence".
Following the arrest, the head of Torrevieja's Investigating Court ordered the immediate pre-trial detention of the pensioner and ordered that work at the Xixona plant be halted to assist police in their search.
Meanwhile, the government's delegate for gender violence, Victoria Rosell, confirmed that the Spanish police are collaborating with Finnish police "to confirm the identity of the victim".
Image: Guardia Civil
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