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Divers join hunt for missing mother of two

As police continue to question a man being held overthe disappearance of a 20-year-old mother of two, divers have taken to the lakes and storm drains around Trollhättan, western Sweden, in the hopes of finding her.

Divers join hunt for missing mother of two

The woman has been missing since Sunday, when she was last seen in Trollhättan, roughly 75 kilometres north of Gothenburg.

On Wednesday, a 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of having kidnapped the mother of two, although he has denied any involvement.

Police on Thursday increased their hunt for the woman, sending divers to lakes and storm drains in the countryside in the vicinity of Hunneberg, north of Trollhättan.

“We are doing a thorough search up there on the mountain and if you’re going to do it, you should do it properly,” Sten Rune Timmersjö of the local police told the TT news agency.

In Hunneberg, roughly ten kilometres from Trollhättan, clothes and a backpack were found, which have been sent in for analysis. A burnt out car was also discovered in the area. It remains unclear if the car or the clothes have any connection to the case, but investigators are looking into both.

Police have concluded that no murder could have occurred in the woman’s apartment.

Around 200 volunteers from the Missing People organization have also joined the search party.

TT/The Local/og

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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.

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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