FILE - In this May 11, 2001 file photo Klaus Bernhardt, then spokesperson of the police Hof, shows stuff similar to the a bag and jacket similar to what was worn by nine-year-old Peggy who disappeared in May 2001. Her remains were found in spring 2016. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, file)
October 13, 2016 - 12:40 PM
BERLIN - German authorities say DNA recovered from the site where a child's remains were found has been linked to a dead neo-Nazi suspected in a string of killings.
Nine-year-old Peggy Knobloch disappeared in 2001. Her remains were discovered in July 2016 in central Germany's Thuringia state.
Police and prosecutors in neighbouring Upper Franconia said Thursday that genetic material recovered from the site had been connected to Uwe Boehnhardt.
Boehnhardt died in November 2011 following a botched robbery with another suspected member of the far-right National Socialist Underground.
The group, known by the acronym NSU, has been tied to 10 killings between 2000 and 2007. Its sole surviving alleged member, Beate Zschaepe, is currently on trial in Munich.
Authorities said they are determining how Boehnhardt's DNA came to be at the site.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016