Caracal case: Romanian investigators don’t have evidence that the kidnapped girls are dead

Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism – DIICOT doesn’t have clear evidence that Alexandra Macesanu, the girl kidnapped last week by a 65-year old mechanic from the town of Caracal in Southern Romania, is dead.

DIICOT chief prosecutor Felix Banila said on Wednesday that the prosecutors haven’t received the preliminary results of the forensic analysis on the bone fragments found at the suspect’s home, Mediafax reported. He added that, until the girl’s death is confirmed, the prosecutors will also continue to pursue the scenario that she is still alive. The same is valid for the other girl presumably kidnapped and killed by the suspect earlier this year, Luiza Melencu.

15-year old Alexandra Macesanu went missing last week after hitchhiking a ride. She managed to call the emergency number 112 three times and asked for help, saying that she had been kidnapped and raped by a man. However, the police only went into the suspect’s home 19 hours later, on Friday morning. They found jewelry belonging to the girl in the man’s car and house, but they didn’t find her or her body.

On Sunday, the suspect confessed to killingAlexandra Macesanu and Luiza Melencu, another girl that went missing earlier this year. He said he burned Alexandra’s body. The investigators found what appeared to be human bones in a barrel in the man’s yard. However, the forensic analysis results haven’t been announced yet.

The details provided by the presumed killer were inconsistent, according to DIICOT head Felix Banila. He first said he threw the victims’ bodies in the Olt river but then he said he threw them in the Danube. The investigators also consider the hypothesis of the girls being kidnapped for human trafficking, which would explain DIICOT’s involvement in this case.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Bogdan Danescu)