Body of missing woman found; Husband suspected in murder-suicide

The body of a 42-year-old woman reported missing on Tuesday has been found.

Police believe she was killed by her 41-year-old husband, who then took his own life at their home. A suicide note he left behind led officers to the victim’s body, discovered “in a thicket in the wider Zagreb area,” police said, without giving further details.

Authorities are treating the case as femicide, a crime Interior Minister Davor Božinović noted is the focus of ongoing awareness campaigns by law enforcement and the government.

“Some things are impossible to predict. These kinds of cases keep happening year after year within families and close relationships. There is little we can do except continue educating the public,” Božinović said.

The Croatian Institute for Social Work, which handles domestic violence cases, said it had no record or prior reports concerning the family.

“The family in question was not registered with the Croatian Institute for Social Work,” the agency told the Hina news agency.

It added that all victims of violence can contact the Institute, which then informs police in cases of reported or suspected abuse.

Despite government efforts to raise awareness about femicide, activists say more education in schools is needed to address domestic violence. This is the 15th woman killed by her partner in Croatia this year.