A major police investigation is underway after a 28-year-old woman was found dead inside a suitcase floating in a river.
Hairstylist Valentina Tănăsie last spoke to her father on Sunday night (20 September), after he received a message from her boyfriend claiming she had cheated on him.
Her father told local media: “I knew she was with this boyfriend of hers, the jealous b*stard. I spoke to him for 40 minutes and told him to calm down.
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“He kept saying she’d cheated on him, but my daughter said she hadn’t been with anyone else since she got together with him.
“And she said to me, ‘Dad, just leave him alone for now. He’s drunk, and I love him.”
Worried that something was wrong, he called Valentina on Monday morning (21 September), but she did not answer.
He then called her boyfriend, Vlăduț Băltățeanu, who said he was at work and had not spoken to her.
Valentina’s father became alarmed and called 112 to report her missing, as reported by Need To Know.
Hours later, on Tuesday (22 September), fishermen spotted a suitcase floating near the bank of the Olt River in Romania.
Inside was Valentina’s naked body.
Forensic doctors found two traumatic injuries to her head and five broken ribs, as well as abrasions and wounds to her lower legs.
They concluded that she died from traumatic and haemorrhagic shock on Monday.
Adrian Vrăbete, a spokesman for Vâlcea’s prosecutor’s office, said: “The injuries were found to have been caused by blows with hard objects, an object with a pointed and sharp edge, possibly a knife, and compression of the chest and abdomen, possibly by someone sitting on the victim.”
A search of Băltățeanu’s home was carried out on Wednesday (23 September).
Vrăbete said investigators found “multiple reddish-brown stains that appear to be blood” on a mattress inside the property.
Băltățeanu, 30, has been charged with murder. The barber, originally from Horezu, is believed to have fled to Hungary.
Valentina lived in Tomşani with him. The pair had reportedly met online and had been in a relationship for around three months.
Their relationship was reportedly marked by violent rows and extreme jealousy.
Four years ago, a provisional protection order was issued against Bălățeanu in a case involving another partner.
He was initially investigated for rape, but the charge was later changed to assault or other acts of violence before the criminal investigation was discontinued.
Valentina, originally from Dolj County, “wanted to get pregnant and start a family”, an uncle told local media.
Authorities are continuing to search for Băltățeanu.
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