Police in Denmark have identified a headless torso found in the Copenhagen waterside as that of Swedish journalist Kim Wall, who police believe was killed on board a Danish inventor’s homemade submarine.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Copenhagen police’s vice-president, Jens Møller, said metal weights had been attached to the body to prevent it from floating to the surface.

“The body bears the mark of having, most likely, been inflicted deliberate damage with the purpose of ensuring that gasses can pass out of the body – possibly in an attempt to avoid that a body rises from the seabed,” Møller said.

He also said DNA taken from a hairbrush and toothbrush belonging to 30-year-old Wall had matched that of blood found on the submarine.

Peter Madsen, a Danish inventor about whom Wall is believed to have been writing a feature article, was charged with manslaughter last week. He told a court hearing this week that Wall died in an accident on his vessel and that he “buried” her at sea.

 My friend Kim Wall's disappearance in Denmark shows: female journalists face danger everywhere Sruthi Gottipati     Read more

This marked a change from a previous statement in which he claimed to have dropped off Wall alive on the tip of an island off Copenhagen late on 10 August before the vessel sank. Madsen denies manslaughter.

Wall’s mother, Ingrid, posted on Facebook on Wednesday: “We cannot see the end of the disaster yet, and a lot of questions are still to be answered.

“The tragedy has hit not only us and other families, but friends and colleagues all over the world. During the horrendous days since Kim disappeared, we have received countless evidence of how loved and appreciated she has been, as a human and friend as well as a professional journalist. From all corners of the world comes evidence of Kim’s ability to be a person who makes a difference.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/23/danish-police-confirm-torso-found-copenhagen-journalist-kim-wall