The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Thursday that the body of a Belgian national had been found on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The woman's husband is still missing.
Laura Trappeniers (66) and Marc Olbrechts (71) disappeared on 22 April after the alarm in their home in the town of Adeje went off. Their dark blue Opel Mokka with a Spanish number plate also went missing, according to HLN. The house door was wide open, and keys and a mobile phone were still inside.
Spain's national centre for missing persons, CNDES, announced on Wednesday that Trappeniers had been found some 50 kilometres from her home. The Spanish authorities did not, however, specify whether the woman was still alive.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Spanish Foreign Office confirmed that Trappeniers had been found dead. The woman's mutilated body was found floating in the sea by a fisherman on Saturday. There was a plastic bag over her head and both legs and a hand were missing.
The body was in an advanced state of decomposition, suggesting that it had been in the water for several days, local newspaper El Día reports.
An autopsy on that body showed that the woman found had been killed with intentional violence.
Husband still missing
The victim's husband, Marc Olbrechts, is still missing. An investigation has been launched and the Foreign Affairs Ministry is not giving any further details on the case.
The search notice for Olbrechts is still in effect, according to the CNDES website. "The Foreign Affairs Ministry in Brussels and the Belgian Consulate in Tenerife continue to closely monitor the file related to the disappearance of the Belgian couple."
