Beauty influencer Stefanie Pieper has died at age 31 — and multiple people have been arrested in connection together with her death.
Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported on Saturday, November 29, that Pieper’s ex-boyfriend was apprehended in Slovenia within the vicinity of his burning automobile.
Once in custody, he reportedly confessed to strangling Pieper and led authorities to her body in a close-by forest, hidden inside a suitcase.
Austria’s Styrian State Police initially confirmed that Pieper had gone missing on Sunday, November 23, after attending a Christmas party. Family members reached out to authorities when she didn’t show up at work for a modeling photo shoot.
Local news outlets Oe24 and 20 Minuten reported that Pieper did initially check in with friends after coming back from a Christmas party in Graz, Austria, on Sunday. Nonetheless, she later got back in contact to specific concern that somebody was in her stairwell.
Austrian news outlets reported that a few of Pieper’s neighbors heard arguing and saw her ex-boyfriend prior to the influencer’s disappearance.
Investigators quickly determined that Pieper’s ex-boyfriend could have had something to do together with her disappearance.
“Subsequent investigations led to the suspicion that the lady’s 31-year-old ex-boyfriend may be connected to her disappearance,” Styrian State Police said in a press release. “The person is believed to have traveled to Slovenia several times in his automobile. He couldn’t be contacted by the investigating police.”
On Monday, November 24, Slovenian police were notified that “a automobile had caught fire within the parking zone of a casino near the border” in Šentilj.
“This was the 31-year-old man’s automobile,” police said on the time. “He was present in the immediate vicinity of the burning vehicle and arrested by the Slovenian police. Extradition to Austria has been requested.”
More news followed on Thursday, November 29, when Austrian state police confirmed that two of the suspect’s male relatives had been detained on the Graz-Jakomini correctional facility in Austria as a consequence of a risk of obstruction of justice. Local media later identified these two other members of the family because the suspect’s brother and stepfather.
“Two more men from the suspect’s family circle were arrested in Austria. The detainees are in police custody and are being questioned,” police said in a press release.
At the moment, Austrian police conducted a “forensic examination of the ex-boyfriend’s automobile [that] yielded no clues” concerning the alleged murder.
“The investigation is being conducted in each Slovenia and Austria, and there’s close cooperation between the 2 authorities,” the Styrian State Police have said.
Austrian police also cautioned on Thursday: “Rumors are circulating in various media outlets and online platforms that the missing woman has been present in Slovenia. Several media inquiries seek advice from this rumor. The Styrian police cannot confirm this rumor.”
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Pieper’s body was eventually present in a Serbian forest. The suspect himself was extradited to Austria to face interrogation on Friday, November 29, but a motive has yet to be determined.
Representatives for Austrian and Slovenian police, in addition to the Graz Public Prosecutor’s Office, are expected to carry a joint press conference with updates on the case on Sunday, November 30.
Pieper was an influencer, makeup artist and aspiring singer in her native Austria. She amassed greater than 47,000 followers via Instagram.