Kim Wall: Torso found amid search for submarine journalist

Kim Wall (pictured) was researching a feature about submarines before she disappeared

A woman's headless torso has been found by police searching for a Swedish journalist who went missing during a trip with a submarine inventor.

Kim Wall was last seen alive on Danish entrepreneur Peter Madsen's submarine on 10 August.

He initially said he had dropped her off safely near Copenhagen, but has since said she died in an accident and that he had "buried" her at sea.

The body has been sent for forensic analysis, but is yet to be identified.

Ms Wall, 30, was reported missing by her boyfriend after she failed to return from what should have been a short trip to research a feature about the inventor and his submarine.

The submarine sank hours after the search for the journalist began, and Mr Madsen was charged with negligent manslaughter.

• Kim Wall: What we know and what we don't

• Who is DIY submariner Peter Madsen?

Danish police believe the 40-tonne vessel was deliberately sunk by Mr Madsen, who was rescued before being arrested.

The inventor, 46, told police that he had left Ms Wall's body somewhere in Koge Bay, south of Copenhagen.

The torso was found on the shore by a passing cyclist.

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

The police say they cannot release any more information at this time.

Ms Wall boarded Peter Madsen's submarine Nautilus on 10 August

Peter Madsen's lawyer, Betina Hald Engmark, said her client has not admitted any wrongdoing. She said he had given evidence to the police during preliminary questioning and "information from this" had now emerged.

"My client has not confessed to anything, my client still pleads not guilty to the charges against him," she said.

The UC3 Nautilus submarine was at one stage the world's largest privately built submarine

The court case is being heard behind closed doors, but part of his explanation of what happened was released after a request from the defence and prosecution.

In a statement, Copenhagen police also said that maritime authorities had determined the route the submarine travelled in Koge Bay and the Oresund strait before sinking.

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