One hot summer night in 1992, 22-year-old Helena Andersson was on her way home from a night on the town at Stadshotellet in Mariestad.
Somewhere between the hotel and the home where her parents slept, she disappeared.
The next morning, her sandals and the rings she was wearing were found near the house. The police started a huge search operation, and hundreds of volunteers participated in the search, writes Expressen.
After a while, the police concluded that she was dead, and probably killed.
The body has never been found.
As the years passed, the police had several theories about what had happened, but they never managed to find a perpetrator.
Found buried in concrete
Breakthrough
In the autumn of 2020, the case was transferred to the cold case group in Gothenburg, and two investigators have reviewed the entire case again.
Monday afternoon they sent one out press release and announced that there had been a development in the almost 30-year-old mystery.
– During this review, information has come to light against a person who today has been suspected of the murder of Helena Andersson, the police write.
– Suspected of having acted alone
The man was in his 30s when Andersson disappeared. He has the status of “reasonably suspected”, which is the lowest level of suspect one can be in the Swedish judiciary. He is not charged with any offense, but the case is now being transferred to the prosecution.
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– The suspect lived at the disappearance site in Mariestad and was then in his 30s. The investigation has not been able to prove any acquaintance between Helena Andersson and the suspect, the police write.
– The man is suspected of having acted alone. That is the reason why no more arrests are planned. The investigation will now take place during interrogations as well as technical investigations and house searches, the police write further.
Depends on the body
Anders Eriksson is head of the cold case group that has reviewed the case again. He says that there are several reasons why they have now arrested the man.
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– You lean to a certain extent on what has been done before, and it is well done. But the biggest success factor is that for a long time it has been possible to work completely without being disturbed by other things. I also think it is important that you come in completely without prejudice. Then it can be easier to weigh things up against each other and be objective, Eriksson says to Expressen.
He says that finding Andersson will be a prerequisite for whether the suspect is convicted.
– It is an absolute prerequisite. If you do not have a body, then in practice you do not know if she is dead, even though it is a very probable reasoning. If you do not have a body, you will not be able to prosecute any perpetrator, says Eriksson.
When asked by Expressen, the cold case manager will not comment on whether it means that they have now found the body, since they have arrested the man.
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– Hard to cheer
– The cold case group has informed us that something should happen, so we should be aware of it. But exactly what they had come to, we have no insight into, says Andersson’s sister Gabriella to Expressen.
She says she has a two-way relationship with the news that comes out.
– I have a hard time cheering and thinking “hurray”, it is so difficult to relate to. I do not want my sister to have been exposed to some maniac, but at the same time it is of course fantastic if you have actually caught the person who has done this. If we can find out what has happened, we may be able to start mourning in another way, Gabriella tells the newspaper.
She adds that she is very grateful that the Swedish police have continued to investigate, even after so many years.
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