Body found after Danish submariner admits to dumping journalist's body at sea

A woman’s body has been found in the Baltic Sea close to where an amateur submariner confessed to dumping a journalist’s body after an accident on board his home-made craft, Danish police said.

The discovery of the torso at the water's edge came hours after Danish inventor Peter Madsen told officers that the reporter, Kim Wall, had died in an unspecified accident in the submarine and he had dumped her body at sea more than a week ago.

Police said it was too early to say whether the body was that of Ms Wall. She had visited the submarine to write a profile about the 46-year-old inventor and his submarine project.

Madsen was arrested in connection with Wall's disappearance after his submarine sank off Denmark's eastern coast. Police believed he deliberately scuttled the vessel to cover up what had happened.

The inventor initially told authorities that he had dropped the reporter off on a redeveloped island in Copenhagen’s harbour after a short trip on August 10.

He later changed his story to say that the woman had died in an accident but continued to deny any wrongdoing. He is being held on preliminary manslaughter charges.

Madsen was known for financing his submarine project through crowdfunding. The first launch of his 40-ton, nearly 18-meter-long UC3 Nautilus in 2008 made international headlines.

Wall's family said that she had worked in many dangerous places as a journalist and it was unimaginable "something could happen ... just a few miles from the childhood home." 
The 30-year-old was last seen atop the Nautilus submarine on Aug. 10, about to embark on a brief ride in the vessel. The journalist's boyfriend alerted authorities that the sub had not returned from a test run, police said.

Before his arrest, Madsen appeared on Danish television to discuss the submarine's sinking and his rescue.