“Nothing new has emerged. But tomorrow we will hold a remand hearing,” said prosecutor Ulrika Schönbeck to news agency TT on Sunday.

The woman’s body had still not been found by Sunday morning and police are continuing their search over the weekend. According to several media reports police search dogs have detected the scent of a dead person on a plot of land belonging to the suspect.

Scönbeck confirmed at a press conference on Saturday that the body of evidence was mounting against the man as tests undertaken at the National Laboratory of Forensic Science (SKL) confirmed that traces of blood found in the 50-year-old’s car were from Carolin Stenvall.

“We have found traces of human blood in the car. After we got a match on the blood found in the man’s car, the grade of suspicion against the man has been increased to the highest level,” Schönbeck said on Saturday.

The police have reported that they remain uncertain as to the exact circumstances leading up to Stenvall’s death.

Stenvall disappeared in Norrbotten in northern Sweden on September 12th as she was travelling to Kiruna for an interview. Her car was found abandoned near a stone bridge on the E10 motorway southeast of Gällivare the next day.

Over 20 local police officers and 14 dogs have been deployed in the search for Stenvall with assistance from the National Criminal Investigation Department (NCID).