Danish police announced Wednesday a headless torso that washed up from local waters matches the DNA of missing Swedish journalist Kim Wall.
The discovery, a “breakthrough” in the investigation, gives authorities a clearer picture of the reporter’s mysterious disappearance after she boarded a 55-foot privately built submarine on Aug. 10 for a story she was writing about the vessel’s inventor, Peter Madsen. Police believe Madsen intentionally sank the submarine off Denmark’s eastern coast the following day.
Born in 1971, Madsen was raised with his three brothers by their father in a small town on the coast of Zealand, Denmark’s largest island. He told a biographer that his father, a carpenter, was abusive.
Madsen had an early affinity for science -- launching rockets in the schoolyard by the time he was just 15 years old, according to the biography, “Rocket Madsen: Denmark’s Do-It Yourself Astronaut,” written by Thomas Djursing.
“I loved the idea that a fully armed rocket stood behind the school,” Madsen told his biographer. “The school day was my countdown where I constantly looked at my watch thinking ‘T-minus-4 hours,’ ‘T-minus-3 hours,’ etc.”
Following grade school, Madsen began studying engineering at a university, but never completed his degree. His ambitious visions and innovative inventions gained him public acclaim, propelling him to somewhat of a local celebrity and garnering him support from volunteers and investors. Read more at Fox News.
Swedish Journalist Kim Wall boarded Peter Madsen’s DIY submarine off the coast of Denmark to write a story, but she never came back.
Now Madsen, 46, a well-known inventor, is in custody “while Danish police continue their investigation into the presumed death” of the 30-year-old journalist, reports the Guardian. Here are 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know about Kim Wall & Peter Madsen shared by Heavy.com.