The 16-year-old Julia W. from Remshalden near Stuttgart (Rems-Murr district) is dead. A spokeswoman for the Reutlingen police headquarters confirmed this to the star on Friday morning. The "Bild" newspaper and Südwestrundfunk had previously reported.

After the autopsy of the body on Friday morning and due to the other circumstances, the police said that the cause of death was a "suicidal event", not a violent crime. The 35-strong special commission was reportedly dissolved. The background and exact circumstances of death are still to be determined.

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Julia W. has been missing since Tuesday a week ago and remained missing despite extensive search measures (the star reported). She set off for school on the morning of January 24, but never arrived. Instead, she took the train to Kirchheim unter Teck, where she boarded a train at 9:17 a.m. in the direction of Lenningen. After that, their trail was lost.

The body was discovered on Thursday morning during a search operation in a piece of forest "in rough terrain" between Oberlenningen and Hochwang (Esslingen district), around 30 kilometers south of the student's home.

Editor's Note: This article was updated after it was first published to reflect the new police investigation.

Sources: Information from the Reutlingen police headquarters, notification from the Reutlingen police headquarters, "Bild" newspaper, Südwestrundfunk, DPA and AFP news agencies