Overview
- Local officials confirmed that a corpse was discovered on Saturday on the Warnow riverbank in Rostock between the Dierkow and Gehlsdorf districts after a bottle-and-can collector located the body.
- Reporters at the scene described the remains as strongly decomposed and said the body appeared bound and missing its head, but those details have not been confirmed by investigators.
- The Rostock public prosecutor's office said identity, sex and cause of death are currently unknown and that investigators are pursuing all lines of inquiry.
- An autopsy has been ordered and authorities say its findings will be needed to establish whether the death was the result of a homicide.
- Because advanced decomposition can erase forensic clues, identification and cause-of-death determinations may take time and could involve DNA, dental records or other specialist analyses.