Who Is Kim Wall? Woman's Headless Body Found In Peter Madsen's Case

A headless torso of a woman was found on the shores of Copenhagen, Denmark, Monday, even as authorities were searching for the body of Swedish journalist Kim Wall, who was last seen on Danish inventor Peter Madsen's submarine on Aug. 10.

The body, also missing legs and arms, was discovered near Koge Bay, south of Copenhagen, where the inventor said he had dumped Wall's body after she accidentally died on his submarine.

Madsen was charged with the manslaughter of Wall.

Copenhagen police spokesman Jens Moller said in statement that the body has been sent for forensic testing, the results of which alone will determine whether the discovered body belongs to Wall.

"It is clear that the police, like the media and everybody else, is speculating whether this female body is Kim Wall, but it is way too soon to tell," Moller said, BBC reported.

Wall, 30, lived in Beijing. She had written for many well-known international publications such as the New York Times, Guardian, Vice and the South China Morning Post as a freelancer. She was used to travelling all over the world and covering exclusive features.

Recently, she wrote on her Facebook page on June 20 that she was visiting Cuba, Havana. “I wrote a story about hard drives, hackers & hustling. With Alexa Hoyer’s photos, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Read in Harper’s Magazine’s July issue; online (and consider subscribing) or — if you’re in Cuba — look out in next week’s El Paquete Semanal.”

According to BBC, Wall was conducting a research on Madsen, who managed to build a private 40-tonne submarine, UC3 Nautilus, via crowdfunding in 2008.

Wall was a contributing member of Thanks To Scandinavia, a New York-based non-profit organization which “provides scholarships for graduate students from Scandinavia and Bulgaria in recognition of the ordinary people who performed extraordinary acts of courage during WWII (Second World War).”

“We first met Kim in 2013 when she was awarded a scholarship from us, but over the past four years, Kim has become so much more than just one of our former scholars. She became our valued and trusted friend,” the latest tribute on the Facebook page of Thanks To Scandinavia says. “We loved hearing about her non-stop globetrotting, traveling anywhere - and everywhere - from North Korea to Cuba, and all parts in between. She brought joy and inspiration to everyone she met. We will miss her smile, her sunny outlook, and her extraordinary fearlessness. Her family, friends, and loved ones are in our thoughts and prayers.”

Wall was first reported missing by her boyfriend, after she did not come back from what should have been a short trip on the UC3 Nautilus submarine. The remnants of a sunk submarine, which was once “the world’s largest home-built submarine" when it was launched in 2008 was discovered by Danish authorities in Køge Bay on the morning of Aug. 11. Although there was no trace of Wall, Madsen was rescued by the navy before his submarine sank into a bay near Copenhagen, News reported.

The last photo taken of Wall is her standing on the tower of the UC3 submarine, accompanying by Madsen (see below). According to the BBC report, police are under the impression that Madsen deliberately sunk his own submarine, contrary to his claims that the vessel sank due to technical difficulties. The motive of doing the same is not known.