Police in Central and West Jutland have identified the foreign man who was found killed in the Gudenå river north of the village of Svostrup earlier this week. The case is being investigated as a homicide.
DR reports that Midt- og Vestjyllands Politi press officer Anne Kirkegaard told Ritzau on Wednesday that the man has now been identified. Police say the deceased is a foreign national. They declined to release further details, because his next of kin had not yet been notified shortly before midday Wednesday.
The man was found in the Gudenå river on Monday afternoon. According to DR, the report reached police at 4:30 p.m., and officers quickly arrived at the site north of Svostrup. Police assess that the killing took place at most one week before the body was discovered.
Before the identification, police had described the man as roughly 30 to 40 years old, 165 centimeters tall and slim, with short dark hair and a short beard or long stubble.
Autopsy led to homicide conclusion
In a news release published Tuesday, Midt- og Vestjyllands Politi stated that a passer-by saw the man in the water near Brovejen north of Svostrup shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Monday. After overnight investigations and an autopsy, police concluded that the man had been killed. At that point, his identity was still unknown.
The same release said the man was wearing light shorts with vertical stripes when he was found. Police appealed to anyone missing a man matching the description, or who had seen such a man in the area, to come forward. A separate Politi Update entry had initially listed the case as a suspicious incident at the Gudenå.
TV 2 reported from the scene on Tuesday that police could not initially say whether a criminal act was involved. The outlet added that the Navy’s diving service, Søværnets Dykkertjeneste, was called in to assist at the river.
In a later live update, TV 2 reported that the man was fastened to a large battery used to keep him submerged. According to the same coverage, police have released images of the battery and are seeking its owner. Regional outlet Fyens.dk covered the discovery as taking place near Silkeborg and reported that police then regarded the death as a killing.
Why the identification came now
The police conclusion on Tuesday that the man had been killed triggered a public appeal for help establishing his identity, as stated in the force’s own news release. By Wednesday, police had identified the victim, while holding back personal details until relatives were informed.
Police say the investigation continues as a drabssag, the Danish term for a homicide case.
