A 25-year-old woman working as a nanny in Vienna, Austria was found dead in her apartment late January this year. A Gambia native man has been arrested as he is linked to her death, authorities have confirmed.
In a report by Time, the woman, identified as Lauren Mann, was found dead in her apartment in Vienna. Officials said that she was suffocated to death and now a 23-year-old man was arrested for the crime. He has not been identified yet but officials confirmed that his DNA was discovered at the crime scene and investigators were tracking his cell phone activity before his arrest.
There were no further details regarding the suspect but People reported that he was arrested from a Swiss refugee center in the town of Kreuzlingen as per the statement of spokeswoman for the Austrian state prosecutor, Nina Bussek. An Austrian newspaper claims the suspect has been resisting the extradition back to Austria and it remains unclear if he has entered a plea deal or if he has an attorney representing him.
New York Daily News reported that the man was sharing the apartment with Mann and he was in Austria illegally. The nature of the suspect's relationship with Mann has not been revealed yet. He also faced sex abuse charges in Germany in the past.
Mann was partially-dressed when her dead body was found on a mattress that was surrounded by blood. Officers had to force their entry in an effort to find her after employers reported that she was missing. She reportedly failed to pick up the child she was caring for from school.
Originally, officials were sent to her apartment and it was locked. There was no evidence of a crime scene and they also knocked at the door but no one answered. They then went back to the police station and filed a follow-up report. Authorities went back to her apartment and when no one answered, they had to knock down the front door.
Authorities said in a statement, "The family she was working for described her as someone you could count on and when she didn't turn up at the school, they became worried and notified the police."
Vienna police spokesman Thomas Kieblinger said that the investigation is ongoing and they are still looking to see if Mann took drugs or was given drugs. They are also to speak with her social media contacts, her friends, family, schoolmates, and the child that she was taking care of before.
