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KIDNAP

Arrest in hunt for missing mother of two

A 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of having kidnapped a 20-year-old mother of two who was reported missing on Sunday.

Published: 3 July 2013 14:10 CEST
Arrest in hunt for missing mother of two

The man is an acquaintance of the woman and has previous contact with the police. The man denies all suspicions directed against him.

“We will now check the information which the man has submitted in interviews and we will continue with the investigation. We are in the process of putting the puzzle together and are primarily focused on finding the missing woman,” said Eva Johnsson at Uddevalla police in a statement.

The search for the missing woman has now been extended to include countryside in the vicinity of Hunneberg north of Trollhättan.

The police on Tuesday found some items of clothing and a backpack which was deemed of interest to the investigation.

The police will examine the items during the course of Wednesday and continue to interview several friends and acquaintances in order to get a better idea of the woman’s movements prior to her disappearance.

Around 200 volunteers from the Missing People organization joined the search on Tuesday. Renewed attempts to find the woman will be made at 5pm on Wednesday.

“It is positive that so many volunteers are involved in the search party,” said Kenneth Söderlund of Missing People.

TT/The Local/pvs

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SKIING

Spain mourns Blanca Fernández Ochoa, the Olympian skier found dead in Madrid’s sierra

The body of former Spanish alpine skimedallist Blanca Fernández Ochoa was found Wednesday in a mountainous area near Madrid after days of searches for her by hundreds of police and volunteers, officials said.

Published: 5 September 2019 09:34 CEST
Spain mourns Blanca Fernández Ochoa, the Olympian skier found dead in Madrid's sierra
Archive photo of Blanca Fernández Ochoa during her Olympic career.

The 56-year-old — won a bronze skiing for Spain in the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, becoming the country's first female Winter Olympic medallist — had been missing since she was last spotted on surveillance video at a shopping centre on August 24th.

Her car was later found at a parking lot near the start of a hiking trail in Cercedilla, a mountainous village near Madrid. The authorities said they are still investigating the cause of her death.

“Solidarity, support and human warmth have been felt these days in the mountains of Cercedilla. Security forces and many volunteers have taken part in the search for Blanca Fernández Ochoa. But nothing could be done. My affection to all her family,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez tweeted.

Hundreds of police, firefighters, forest rangers and volunteers, backed by helicopters, drones and tracking dogs, had taken part in the search for Fernández Ochoa.

Her family only alerted the authorities about her disappearance on August 29th because they said it was not unusual for her to go on hikes in the area, even without her phone, according to Spanish media reports.

Police on Saturday issued an appeal on social media for help from the public in locating Fernández Ochoa along with a picture of her, which drew media attention to her disappearance.

She was well known in Spain, where she had taken part in several TV reality shows after retiring from sports.

Her older brother, Francisco Fernández Ochoa, won a gold medal for skiing in the 1972 Winter Olympics in Japan. He is the first and only Spaniard to have won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.   

There is a statue in his honour in Cercedilla.   

Until 2018 the brother and sister were the only Spaniards to have won medals at a Winter Olympics.

“It is a very sad day for Spanish sports,” Spain's secretary of state for sports, Maria Jose Rienda, said in a statement.

READ ALSO: Snowboarder from Ceuta wins Olympic medal for Spain

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