Forensic expert on disappearance of Danka Ilic: Why police comb through the yard from which she vanished

D. R.
Vreme čitanja: oko 1 min.

"Judging by everything we know so far, I doubt that it is a case of kidnapping"

Photo: Private archive, Serbian MUP

Where is 2-year-old Danka Ilic from Bor, eastern Serbia? For nine days now, intensive search has been underway to find the little girl who, according to her mother Ivana, disappeared in Banjsko Polje on Tuesday, March 26, at 13:45.

Interpol on Sunday announced that Danka Ilic is missing and issued a yellow notice.

The Serbian police have been intensively searching the Banjsko Polje settlement for the last few days, including today. The investigation is focused on the area around the house and the yard itself.

"The police searched 10 square kilometers in Banjsko Polje in the first hours after the disappearance. After nine days, they would not be returning to the site of the girl's disappearance if there was no new knowledge and evidence that there was something there that could provide an answer to the question of where the girl has disappeared to. The key to this whole case is certainly the mother. She reported the disappearance and was the last to see the child," Caslav Ristic, a forensic expert, told Telegraf.rs.

Having many years of experience in similar cases, regarding Danka Ilic, he fears the worst.

"Judging by everything we know so far, I doubt that it is a case of kidnapping. This could be concluded already when the police redirected the investigation after the first 24 hours. After combing through 10 (square) kilometers of terrain around the place of disappearance," says the forensic scientist.

Foreign media have also been reporting about the disappearance Danka Ilic.

The case is all over the news and front pages.

Her mother, Ivana, said yesterday that she and her husband "can't wait to hug the little girl" and that what bothers her the most is that she is "being accused."

The woman decided not to undergo a lie detector test because she is pregnant.

(Telegraf.rs)