The bodies of both missing girls were found in Tuva. What is known

During a search operation in the Republic of Tyva, bodies allegedly belonging to two 13-year-old girls who disappeared in Kyzyl in early July were found. Investigators are carrying out the necessary procedures to identify the victims. All the details are in the Izvestia article.

Body detection

The first body of the child was found on the bank of the Yenisei River near the village of Sukpak, Kyzylsky district. After receiving the message, an investigative task force went to the scene, and the Investigative Committee (IC) reported that the deceased was presumably one of the two missing schoolgirls. Necessary investigative actions were ordered to establish the identity. Later, during a search operation near the village of Iyi-Tal in the Ulug-Khem district, a body was found, presumably belonging to the second girl. Investigators and criminologists were also sent to the place of discovery, who will have to carry out an inspection and other procedural measures. The Investigative Committee stressed that the investigation of the criminal case is ongoing.

The search for girls

Two 13-year-old residents of Kyzyl disappeared on the evening of July 1, when they left their homes and headed towards Kolkhoznaya Street. After that, their whereabouts remained unknown. During searches on the bank of the Yenisei Bayou, mobile phones and shoes of schoolgirls were found, which were later identified by their parents. Emergency services, law enforcement agencies and more than 700 volunteers participated in the search.

The search operation gradually expanded. About 40 km of the coastline and the coastal zone of the Yenisei were surveyed, and then the search was extended to Shagonar and the Sayano-Shushenskoye reservoir. Law enforcement officers, rescuers, dog handlers, relatives, volunteers participated in the operation, drones, watercraft and special equipment were used.

Versions of the investigation

The investigation continues to work out three main versions of the schoolgirls' disappearance. Possible drowning, the commission of crimes against children, as well as the version of suicide are being checked. According to Konstantin Stolbin, head of the investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for Tuva, experts have already studied the recordings from 16 surveillance cameras located along the route of the girls and interviewed a large number of witnesses. All the information collected continues to be analyzed.

Progress of the investigation

A criminal case has been opened into the girls' disappearance. Investigators are continuing their search and investigative activities, establishing all the circumstances of the incident. The head of Tuva, Vladislav Khovalyg, urged residents to trust only official information and not to spread unverified information. After reports appeared on social media that the shaman had allegedly indicated the house where the girls might be, residents of Kyzyl gathered near the building and threw stones at it.

The Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tyva, Yuri Zavyalov, said that a procedural assessment would be given to the actions of the participants in the incident. He also recalled criminal liability for hooliganism and stressed that the police, together with the Investigative Committee, continue to check all versions of the disappearance of children.