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DNA Matches Headless Torso of Journalist From New York Last Seen on Inventor's Submarine: Police

Journalist Kim Wall was last seen alive on Aug. 10

What to Know

  • Journalist Kim Wall was last seen alive on Aug. 10 on inventor Peter Madsen's submarine; her family says she was working a piece on him
  • Her torso was found on a beach by a member of the public who was cycling on Copenhagen's southern Amager island Monday
  • Cops believe Madsen killed the woman, who lived in New York and Beijing, and intentionally sank the sub; he denies killing her

A DNA test from a headless torso found in the Baltic Sea matches Kim Wall, the missing journalist from New York who is believed to have died on an amateur-built submarine that sank, Danish police said Wednesday.

Wall, a 30-year-old Sweden-born writer who graduated from Columbia and had written for the New York Times, was last seen alive on Aug. 10 on Danish inventor Peter Madsen's submarine, which sank off Denmark's eastern coast the day after. Madsen, who was arrested on preliminary manslaughter charges, denies having anything to do with Wall's disappearance.

He initially told police that she disembarked from the submarine to a Copenhagen island several hours into their trip and that he did not know what happened to her afterward, but later told authorities "an accident occurred onboard that led to her death" and he "buried" her at sea.

The headless torso was found by a member of the public Monday near where she was believed to have died. Copenhagen police said Tuesday that the arms and legs had been "deliberately been cut off" the body. 

In a brief statement, police said Wednesday tests found the torso matched with Wall, and a news conference was scheduled later Wednesday.

Wall, a Sweden-born freelance journalist, studied at the Sorbonne university in Paris, the London School of Economics and at Columbia University in New York, where she graduated with a master's degree in journalism in 2013.

She lived in New York and Beijing, her family said, and had written for The New York Times, The Guardian, the South China Morning Post and Vice Magazine, among other publications.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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