Update: Human remains found in a forest near Caracal

Investigators have found human remains in a forest near Caracal on Monday, amid new searches in the case of the murdered teen girls, Alexandra Macesanu and Luiza Melencu.

DIICOT spokeswoman confirmed late on Monday that investigators had found a sack full of bones and ash in the forest where the main suspect, currently under arrest, Gheorghe Dinca, had said he had hidden his traces. Dinca told investigators that he would have thrown pieces of Luiza’s body out there. Luiza Melencu is a 18-year-old girl who has been reported missing since April 2019.

Dinca said he would have killed Luiza in April on the same day he had kidnapped her.

“The ash has to be sifted to see the remains“, said Mihaela Porime, DIICOT spokesperson.

The remains are to be examined to precisely determine if they have any connection with the Caracal murders.

Lawyer: Someone is advising Dinca on what steps to take

However, the lawyer of the Melencu family, Tonel Pop, said Dinca did not know whose bones are those found in the forest near Caracal and that he is locating the girls according to the months of the year. The lawyer underlined Dinca might have killed more girls.

Moreover, lawyer Tonel Pop believes Gheorghe Dinca is advised by someone and has a well prearranged technique. “Someone is teaching him to react in due time. Dinca’s target is the case should be closed with two victims, but there might be more of them,” the lawyer said.

The lawyer argued that the defendants is definitely intelligently advised by someone in terms of legal steps, as all that he is stating has “clear legal keys” meant to reduce his prison sentence from 25 years to 7-8 years. “For me, his strategy is clear. Investigators must dig in his pits and concreted bunkers, he has true foxholes in there. We’ll also call for the hearing of the policeman who talked to hi, what they talked, for he had no connection with the investigation. The policeman also talked to Dinca’s wife, we’ll ask for an inquiry, things should not stay that way, he is under preventive arrest, he is under surveillance, he is not allowed to talk to anyone. It’s clear the policeman is his friend, something like that”, the lawyer said.

Investigators are looking for new evidence in the Caracal murders case within the fourth day of searches, including in a sunflower patch by the roadside outside the town.

Judicial sources disclosed that investigators are looking for Luiza’s phone in the sunflower patch. Dinca had confessed to also murdering Luiza and the phone is the evidence that would have directly incriminated him, besides his statement.

Gheorghe Dincă, who has confessed to murdering both girls, is attending searches today.

Despite his confession, Dinca has misled investigators so far. He initially said he would have thrown Luiza’s body but gave no precise location. First he said he had thrown the body in Olt River, after that he changed his testimony, saying it was in the Danube or in a lake near Caracal.

DIICOT prosecutors have sealed Gheorghe Dinca’s house on Sunday after they had taken several evidence, samples collected from the house’s attic and also from the clothes found in a field somewhere between Caracal and Craiova city.

A woman told policemen she had found some clothes, a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts, near the sunflower field, but investigators established the clothes did not belong to Luiza Melencu.

Six protesters in front of Dinca’s house, fined

Six people who have been protesting in front of the alleged murderer’s house have been fined by policemen and gendarmes for public nuisance and for they would have offended the lawmen.

Two men have been sanctioned for they would have thrown eggs at Gheorghe Dinca’s house and for addressing injuries against police officers and against the gendarmes deployed on the scene.