UPDATED, MARCH 9 AT 10:00 PM: Police have arrested a 33-year-old local man and charged him with the murder of Anders Mark Hansen. The police say that it was a tip recieved earlier in the week that led to the arrest on Thursday afternoon.
UPDATED, MARCH 6 AT 12:10 PM: Autopsy results revealed that Anders Mark Hansen was strangled to death. Police also no longer believe he was dragged by a car.
ORIGINAL, MARCH 5 AT 11:52 AM: Police are hoping an autopsy today will reveal the cause of death of a 22-year-old man found dead Saturday afternoon in a wooded area near Rødvig, south of Copenhagen.
Anders Mark Hansen was last seen alive on Friday as he left home to walk his dog. When he failed to return home for dinner, relatives immediately began to search for him.
Hansen, who hails from the town of Stevns, was found lying next to his vehicle by a jogger at the end of a small road in the woods with his dog locked inside. According to the coroner, the murder may have taken place on Friday night and assistant police chief of Central and West Zealand, Ove Petersen, said that the case faces several issues, including a possibly compromised crime scene.
“It is not the best scenario for us. There have been a lot of emergency workers on the scene and now we face the difficult task of separating legitimate tracks from possible evidence left by the perpetrator or perpetrators.”
Despite a lack of witnesses, the police are convinced that Hansen was not killed at random, but that he had some outstanding business with someone. His hairdresser girlfriend, Ewa Karolewska, told the tabloid Ekstra Bladet that he was meeting someone that evening.
“He visited me at the hairdressers just after lunch and we agreed that he should have dinner ready for when I came home from work. Later, he called and said that he just had to go out and speak with someone”
Although the cause of Hansen's death has yet to be determined, it is speculated that the young man endured an excessively violent death, including being strangled with a rope and being dragged behind a car.
Hansen was last seen Friday at 2pm and police are looking for witnesses that have seen the victim or his dark blue or black VW Polo Fox estate car with yellow number plate XP 96043. The time between his last sighting and Saturday afternoon is of particular importance.
Petersen told the Ritzau news bureau on Monday morning that the police had garnered a solid amount of information thus far from witnesses coming forward.
“The information stems from the environment itself, as well as individuals who have heard and seen things so there is a lot to work with.”
