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Lismore: Residents commemorate the Germans shortly after their death in February 2005
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Fairfax Media/Getty Images
17 years after the violent death of a German backpacker in Australia, the local police arrested a man.
The police headquarters in Lower Franconia confirmed that it was the victim's friend at the time.
The then 25-year-old educator Simone Strobel from Lower Franconia was traveling in Australia with her boyfriend on a working holiday visa.
At the beginning of 2005, two acquaintances from Germany came to stay for a few weeks. The four had stayed together at a campsite in Lismore on the east coast.
There the young woman disappeared.
A few days later, her body was found nearby under palm fronds.
According to the Guardian, investigations revealed that the woman had been suffocated, probably with a pillow or a plastic bag.
After the violent death, the local police set up an investigation team and also worked together with the criminal police and the public prosecutor's office in Würzburg.
At a first hearing in 2007, the Australian judiciary classified the three passengers as suspects, including her boyfriend at the time.
According to local media reports, after Strobel's death he refused to return to Australia and testify.
The investigations at the time did not lead to the desired result: since the police could not produce enough evidence, no charges were brought.
The police in Würzburg could not say why the now 42-year-old was arrested.
According to local media reports, the Australian police did not specify what exactly the man was accused of, but said his arrest was related to the Strobel case.
The case remains unsolved to this day.
In 2020, the Australian authorities had suspended one million Australian dollars for information about the young woman's death.
The Bavarian authorities had already offered a reward of up to 10,000 euros for relevant information in the case in 2014.
The suspect is scheduled to appear before a judge this Thursday.
jpz/dpa/AFP
