It was a gruesome discovery in an underground car park in Regensburg: police discovered a dead 19-year-old in the trunk of a car. The investigators now suspect a 55-year-old of having killed the young woman. The public prosecutor's office must now decide whether he will be brought before an investigating judge, police spokesman Michael Zaschka told the German Press Agency on Sunday. He did not say what relationship the suspect has to the victim.

According to research by the Bavaria media group, the person arrested is said to be a person from the 19-year-old's private environment, but not from her family. “The case is still at a very early stage,” explained Zaschka. That's why he couldn't provide any information about how the young woman from the Upper Palatinate district of Cham died. Forensics were expected to examine the body on Sunday.

According to the police, passers-by reported on Saturday morning that there was a car with a smashed side window in the underground car park of a Regensburg hardware store. A patrol examined the car and discovered the dead woman in the trunk. The police cordoned off the site.

Criminal experts searched the garage for clues. An undertaker later picked up the 19-year-old's body. The investigators interviewed the young woman's parents and witnesses. In the evening they arrested the 55-year-old suspect.

According to the police, the car was registered to the 19-year-old's parents. It was not initially known how long it had been in the underground car park. In any case, the young woman had not been reported missing. According to information from the “Bild” newspaper, she was said to have been seen on Friday.