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A woman's body was found on the Rhine dam in Hockenheim: The police have set up a special commission

Photo: René Priebe / dpa

After a dead woman was found in Hockenheim last week, two suspects were arrested in the Rhein-Neckar district.

The 43 and 44-year-old men had the woman's five-week-old baby with them, as the police and public prosecutor's office have now announced.

They have been in custody since Thursday.

There is a strong suspicion against her of having killed the 27-year-old woman - according to previous information, a Ukrainian refugee.

According to a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office, the five-week-old girl is unharmed, but was still taken to the hospital as a precaution.

A DNA comparison revealed that she was the daughter of the person killed.

The toddler is now in the care of the youth welfare office.

Search for the victim's mother continues

Meanwhile, the special commission that has been set up continues to search for the victim's mother.

The 51-year-old is considered one of the most important witnesses because she may have been the last to have contact with her daughter.

Both had disappeared and were wanted by the police.

Most recently, the deceased was said to have been traveling with her mother and daughter.

A passer-by discovered the dead woman last Thursday near the banks of the Rhine at a so-called NATO ramp.

According to police, she was housed with her baby and her mother in a refugee accommodation in the Rhein-Neckar district.

After an autopsy, it was determined that the 27-year-old died from external violence.

The spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office initially did not provide any information about the possible course of the crime or a possible weapon.

According to the police, the area around the crime scene on the banks of the Rhine was also searched with sniffer dogs in order to find “possible means of crime”.

60 police officers are currently working on the case.

Investigators also noticed a fireplace near where the body was found.

However, it was initially unclear whether this was related to the woman's violent death.

aeh/dpa