Rescue workers searched in vain yesterday afternoon for clues near the site where Birna Brjánsdóttir’s body was found on January 22, on the south coast of Reykjanes peninsula, RÚV reports. The 20-year-old Birna disappeared in downtown Reykjavík on January 14. One man is in police custody, suspected in her death.
Close to 100 rescue workers in 11 search groups took part in the effort. They covered an area from Herdísarvík creek and Hlíðarvatn lake to Selvogsviti lighthouse, where the body was discovered, partly to find out where her body might have been thrown into the ocean. Chief Superintendent Grímur Grímsson, who directs the murder investigation, stated the search was conducted at the request of the police, based on a tip received over the weekend. He declined to explain to RÚV the nature of the tip.
The suspect in custody has not been interrogated since Thursday, and it has not been decided when to resume the interrogation. Results from biological samples from items confiscated onboard the trawler Polar Nanoq, of which the suspect was a crew member, are still being awaited.
Fréttablaðið reports on its front page today to have sources saying Birna was still alive inside the red Kia Rio rental car when it arrived at Hafnarfjörður harbor shortly after 6 am on January 14. The newspaper claims that the investigators assume she was not harmed until the second suspect, who now has been released, had left the car and gone onboard Polar Nanoq.
Fréttablaðið’s sources reportedly state that Birna was inflicted the most harm in the harbor area between 6:10 and 7 am while the suspect in custody was alone with her in the car.
Security cameras near the harbor show the two men get out of the car shortly after 6 am and talk for a while before one of them boards the ship. The suspect then drives to the end of the pier, where he stays for about 50 minutes. The car is then driven away from the area, but it remains to be found out where it was driven between then and 11:30 am.
