DRESDEN , Germany, August 19, 2015 ( Ed Adamczyk ) — A German teen, whose body was found earlier this week after a kidnapping, was likely stalked by her abductors on Facebook, investigators said.
The girl, identified as Anneli-Marie R., had been missing since she went to walk her dog near Meissen, Germany, on Aug. 13. Two unidentified male suspects, 39 and 61, were arrested Monday, the day her body was found on a farm near Leipzig. The victim’s father, a local businessman, received a 1.2 million Euro ($1.3 million) ransom demand the day of her disappearance; he expressed a willingness to pay the ransom in a public appeal Sunday.
Investigators said the younger suspect used Facebook, as well as dog-walks of his own, to learn of the girl’s patterns of movement.
“Based on the investigation so far, the younger suspect was supposedly taking walks with a dog in the area to find out at what times the girl was out and about,” Lorenz Haase of the Dresden prosecutors’ office told NBC News on Wednesday.
Over 1,200 police officers were involved in the hunt for Anneli-Marie R. Pending an autopsy, investigators theorize she died Friday, prior to any agreement to pay the ransom. Dresden chief prosecutor Erich Wenzlick said police believe “It was a murder to cover up their (the kidnappers’) identities. The two perpetrators did not wear masks during the kidnapping. They could have been identified by the kidnapped girl.”
