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Excavation in the "Inga" missing persons case: samples for forensic medicine

A five-year-old girl disappears in a remote district of Stendal. Eight and a half years ago. The police grabbed shovels and spades after new clues. Now it's the turn of forensic experts.

A forensic vehicle stands next to an empty building a few kilometers west of Stendal. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de
A forensic vehicle stands next to an empty building a few kilometers west of Stendal. Photo.aussiedlerbote.de

Notes - Excavation in the "Inga" missing persons case: samples for forensic medicine

Eight and a half years ago, five-year-old Inga disappeared apparently without a trace in the remote Wilhelmshof district of Stendal - now the police are investigating new clues in the case. Excavations were carried out on a private property on Thursday and were completed in the afternoon, said a spokesman for the Halle police station. A few small bones were found, explained Thomas Kramer, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Stendal. Several were obviously from animals, and it was not certain whether some of them were of human origin. No distinctive bones such as skulls or pelvises were found, Kramer said. Forensic examinations followed.

On Thursday, digging was carried out on the former military site with shovels and spades, and a mini-excavator was also on hand. The excavations had been started following a tip-off, about which police spokesman Ripke did not provide any further details.

At the beginning of December, the media reported on a privately organized search with special dogs in the area, which was snow-covered at the time. Several dogs had indicated that possible human remains could lie in an area near Uchtspringe, a district of Stendal, or that there could have been a dumping site there. The private investigation team wanted to pass on their findings to the police, the reports said.

Five-year-old Inga from Schönebeck near Magdeburg disappeared on May 2, 2015 during a visit with her family in the remote Stendal district of Wilhelmshof - her fate remains unknown to this day. The five-year-old was last seen while preparing a barbecue. Extensive searches using technology and sniffer dogs as well as more than 1,500 emergency personnel had led to no results. Investigators followed up more than 2000 leads and clues. Ponds were pumped out, bodies of water examined and buildings searched several times. Nevertheless, there was no trace of the girl.

In April, the Halle police station took over the evaluation and analysis of the current state of the investigation. The investigators were asked to take an unbiased look at the case, which had previously been handled by the Stendal police station. This is the implementation of a new cold-case management system initiated by Saxony-Anhalt Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang (CDU). If investigations into homicide and missing persons cases remain unsuccessful for a long time, experienced investigative teams in Saxony-Anhalt are to be called in to take a second look.

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Source: www.stern.de

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