Beauty influencer Stefanie Pieper has died at age 31 — and multiple people have been arrested in connection with her death.
Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung reported on Saturday, November 29, that Pieper’s ex-boyfriend was apprehended in Slovenia in the vicinity of his burning car.
Once in custody, he reportedly confessed to strangling Pieper and led authorities to her body in a nearby forest, hidden inside a suitcase.
Austria’s Styrian State Police initially confirmed that Pieper had gone missing on Sunday, November 23, after attending a Christmas party. Loved ones reached out to authorities when she did not show up at work for a modeling photo shoot.
Local news outlets Oe24 and 20 Minuten reported that Pieper did initially check in with friends after returning from a Christmas party in Graz, Austria, on Sunday. However, she later got back in touch to express concern that someone was in her stairwell.
Austrian news outlets reported that some of Pieper’s neighbors heard arguing and saw her ex-boyfriend prior to the influencer’s disappearance.
Investigators quickly determined that Pieper’s ex-boyfriend may have had something to do with her disappearance.
“Subsequent investigations led to the suspicion that the woman’s 31-year-old ex-boyfriend might be connected to her disappearance,” Styrian State Police said in a statement. “The man is believed to have traveled to Slovenia several times in his car. He could not be contacted by the investigating police.”
On Monday, November 24, Slovenian police were notified that “a car had caught fire in the parking lot of a casino near the border” in Šentilj.
“This was the 31-year-old man’s car,” police said at the time. “He was found in the immediate vicinity of the burning vehicle and arrested by the Slovenian police. Extradition to Austria has been requested.”
More news followed on Thursday, November 29, when Austrian state police confirmed that two of the suspect’s male relatives had been detained at the Graz-Jakomini correctional facility in Austria due to a risk of obstruction of justice. Local media later identified these two other family members as the suspect’s brother and stepfather.
“Two more men from the suspect’s family circle were arrested in Austria. The detainees are in police custody and are being questioned,” police said in a statement.
At that time, Austrian police conducted a “forensic examination of the ex-boyfriend’s car [that] yielded no clues” about the alleged murder.
“The investigation is being conducted in both Slovenia and Austria, and there is close cooperation between the two authorities,” the Styrian State Police have said.
Austrian police also cautioned on Thursday: “Rumors are circulating in various media outlets and online platforms that the missing woman has been found in Slovenia. Several media inquiries refer to this rumor. The Styrian police cannot confirm this rumor.”
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Pieper’s body was eventually found in a Serbian forest. The suspect himself was extradited to Austria to face interrogation on Friday, November 29, but a motive has yet to be determined.
Representatives for Austrian and Slovenian police, as well as the Graz Public Prosecutor’s Office, are expected to hold a joint press conference with updates on the case on Sunday, November 30.
Pieper was an influencer, makeup artist and aspiring singer in her native Austria. She amassed more than 47,000 followers via Instagram.
