DNA of headless torso found at sea matches missing Swedish journalist: Danish police

Published
11
30-year-old Kim Wall had failed to return from an interview with Peter Madsen aboard the 60-foot Nautilus on August 10. — File/AFP
30-year-old Kim Wall had failed to return from an interview with Peter Madsen aboard the 60-foot Nautilus on August 10. — File/AFP

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

Wall, 30, was last seen alive on August 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 on August 21 near where she was believed to have died.

Copenhagen police said on August 22 that the arms and legs had been “deliberately been cut off” the body.

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

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.

Opinion

Editorial

Fixing bond markets
Updated 01 Oct, 2026

Fixing bond markets

Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, retail investors, and eventually, foreign investors must become bigger participants in the market.
Call centre rackets
01 Oct, 2026

Call centre rackets

A NUMBER of recent raids conducted by the authorities in different cities point to the growing threat fraudulent ...
Homeward bound
01 Oct, 2026

Homeward bound

FIVE months after Somali pirates captured an oil tanker carrying a 19-member multinational crew, Somali maritime...
Kashmir unresolved
Updated 30 Sep, 2026

Kashmir unresolved

The just solution lies in India addressing the issue through a trilateral dialogue involving the legitimate representatives of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan.
Water shortage
30 Sep, 2026

Water shortage

THAT the country is entering the Rabi season with an anticipated water shortage of nearly 25pc, the lowest carryover...
Young hearts
30 Sep, 2026

Young hearts

THE observance may have passed, but the message of World Heart Day should not fade with it. The occasion is a useful...