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Headless torso 'could be' journalist from Danish submarine

The headless torso of a woman found floating in Danish waters could be that of a Swedish journalist who authorities believe died aboard an inventor's homemade submarine, police said Tuesday. In a grisly case that has captured public imagination in both countries, Danish inventor Peter Madsen has been accused of the negligent manslaughter of Kim Wall. Police probing the disappearance of Wall -- who hasn't been seen since she was observed aboard the 60-foot (18-metre) Nautilus on the evening of August 10 -- said Monday they had found a torso missing its head and limbs in Koge Bay, south of Copenhagen. "The length of the torso means we cannot rule out that it could be Kim Wall, but we don't know yet," Copenhagen homicide chief Jens Moller Jensen said in a video message released on Twitter. He said DNA samples had been taken from the torso and would be compared with Wall's. Police were to receive the results on Wednesday. Jensen said the body's arms, legs and head had been "deliberately cut off". Madsen, whose website describes him as an "inventepreneur", had initially told authorities that he dropped Wall off on an island late on the evening of August 10. He then changed his story several days later when he appeared in court, saying Wall died in an accident on board and that he dumped the body at sea in an undefined location of the Koge Bay. Search crews found the missing sub on August 11 in Koge Bay, and Madsen was rescued from the vessel, alone, just before it sank. Police have since said they believe Madsen "deliberately" sank the sub. It was brought to the surface and searched, but found to be empty. Wall was a 30-year-old freelance journalist who had reported for The Guardian and The New York Times. A graduate of the Columbia Journalism School, she was based between New York and China. She had met with Madsen to interview him for a feature story she was writing. Madsen, 46, and Wall were seen onboard the vessel by several people in waters off Copenhagen the evening of August 10. Photos of the two emerged online standing next to each other in the sub's tower. Wearing an orange fleece and with her long auburn hair tied in a topknot, she appeared to be smiling.