News

Actions

Missing journalist not found in sunken submarine; builder she was interviewing changes story

Posted at 7:10 PM, Aug 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-14 19:10:32-04

DENMARK – There are far more questions than answers in the disappearance of journalist Kim Wall, who hasn’t been heard from since she boarded Peter Madsen’s now-sunken submarine Thursday night on Denmark’s Refshaleoen island.

The sub has since been raised, and Wall’s body wasn’t in it. Madsen isn’t contesting a court decision to keep him in custody for up to 24 days as Danish police investigate, and while he has been charged with killing Wall by unknown means, his lawyer has denied he had anything to do with her vanishing.

Peter Madsen, builder and captain of the private submarine “UC3 Nautilus” is pictured in Dragoer Harbor south of Copenhagen on Friday, August 11, 2017, following a major rescue operation after the submarine sank in the sea outside Copenhagen Harbor.
A Swedish woman supposed to be on board the submarine is still missing. (BAX LINDHARDT/AFP/Getty Images)

The Local quotes a Sunday press conference with the Copenhagen Police deputy chief inspector, who said Madsen’s story has changed, from initially telling officials he dropped Wall off at 10:30pm Thursday night on the island to another unspecified explanation since.

The Guardian reports Madsen says they spent about three hours on his Nautilus sub, the largest privately made one in the world at the time of its 2008 launch; the Swedish journalist, who divides her time between New York and Beijing, was doing a profile on Madsen.

The Local also picks up a report from a Swedish tabloid that cites a witness who said Madsen’s sub was seen sailing without its lights on some two hours before Wall’s partner reported the vessel as missing around 2:30am Friday.

“There was very nearly a collision” between the sub and a freighter, per the witness. The Washington Post describes Wall as accomplished—the London School of Economics and Columbia University grad wrote for the New York Times, Guardian, and Atlantic, among others—and recounts her travels to Pyongyang, Sri Lanka, and the Marshall Islands for stories.

This article originally appeared on Newser: She Vanished After Boarding His Sub. Now, His Story Changes

More From Newser: