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In the Republic of Crimea, a stepfather detained on suspicion of murder of his 5-year-old stepdaughter and concealing of her body

The Regional Investigations Directorate for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol is investigating a probe into Kropotkino citizen suspected of murder of his 5-year-old stepdaughter (Paragraph C of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of Russia).

Law enforcement units were informed about the girl’s disappearance on November 13 by the stepfather the girl lived with: the man explained that he was away for business with his younger son and the girl was locked at home by herself. When he came back on November 12, the door was open (with no signs of forced entry) and the girl wasn’t home. Search for the child around the village didn’t bring any results.

Experienced investigators, forensic investigators and experts immediately departed for the scene. A set of special events aimed to promptly establish circumstances of the girl’s disappearance were carried out in interaction with the Ministry of Internal Affairs over the Crimea Republic. Various leads were pursued. Volunteers of search-and-rescue group Lisa Alert Crimea, volunteers from different regions and concerned citizens of the peninsula provided great assistance in search activities to law enforcement bodies.

Carrying out required examinations with the participation of experts of Forensic Directorate of the Crimea Republican Main Investigations Directorate established the involvement of the girl’s stepfather in her disappearance. During the subsequent interrogation, he gave testimony on the murder of the child and provided details of that dreadful day. After that, at the crime scene, he indicated a certain spot where he concealed the girl’s body, where it was found during investigative actions.

At present, investigation of the probe established that in the morning of November 12 the man, after committing the offence, hauled the body of his stepdaughter out of the house and covered it with dirt. After that, according to the version of the investigation, in order to provide himself with an alibi, he took the documents of the children from kindergarten and tried to leave to a neighbouring country with his son, but failed. Upon arrival home, he reported the law enforcement bodies about the girl’s disappearance.

At present, an investigative team has been created and is working on establishing all circumstances of this cruel offence. A number of forensic examinations have been arranged as part of the investigation.

Apart from that, the investigation will establish interactions of the family with the relative state services and give principle legal assessment to actions (inaction) of all persons responsible for ensuring the safety of the child.

The investigation is about to press charges against the suspect and motion the court on election of the preventive measure.