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CRIME

Police find missing woman set in concrete

Police found the body of a woman near Bonn on Wednesday set in concrete and hidden behind a wall, five years after she went missing.

Police find missing woman set in concrete
Photo: DPA

The corpse of the woman, referred to as Sigrid P., was discovered in the cellar of a family home in Königswinter, near Bonn in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The dead woman’s husband, who was living in the house with his newly married wife, has been arrested, Bonn’s police department said.

Police discovered the body when they carried out a search of the home using diggers. The body was found – set in concrete – when officers prised open the cellar’s walls with drill hammers.

The corpse was then transferred to Bonn’s forensic hospital and is currently undergoing an autopsy, according to the Welt newspaper.

Police spokesman Robert Scholten said: “Around midday we found a woman’s body in the cellar of a family home in the district of Ittenbach,” the Bild newspaper reported. He added that it was “very likely” to be that of Sigrid P.

At present Gerd P., her 74-year-old former husband, is the main suspect.

In February 2008 he confirmed that his then 38-year-old wife had left him following arguments and money problems. At this stage the police had not been called and nobody had reported her missing.

“The man told us that she had left to start a new life,” Frank Piontek, the police superintendent in charge of the case, told the Welt.

It was not until December 2012 that one of Sigrid P.’s daughters contacted the media. The police then opened an investigation and discovered that Sigrid P. had not notified the authorities of her change of address, had not been using her health insurance card and had “left no other traces whatsoever”, Piontek told the Welt.

The search for the missing woman was launched through the crime investigation television show 'Aktenzeichen XY … ungelöst' – on which Madeleine McCann’s parents also recently appeared.

The programme received information that the suspected killer, Gerd P., had begun extensive construction work in his garden. Police were then able to carry out a search on the property leading to the discovery of the corpse.

READ MORE: Graveyard cremates wrong body in mix-up

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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