Czech police investigate the death of a woman and her son as murder-suicide

Pec pod Sněžkou, East Bohemia, Jan. 3 - Czech police are investigating the case of a 40-year-old woman and her three-year-old son who were found dead in the Krkonoše (Giant) Mountains on Monday as a murder-suicide, which a forensic expert has confirmed, police spokeswoman Iva Kormošová said today.

According to the expert's preliminary findings, the woman and her child died on Dec. 28, 2022, Kormošová added.

"We have launched criminal proceedings on suspicion of an especially serious crime of murder with a subsequent suicide," Kormošová said, noting that the investigation is ongoing.

If it is confirmed that the woman murdered the child, police say they'll shelve the case as a deceased perpetrator cannot be prosecuted, Kormošová said.

Dozens of police officers, firefighters, and mountain rescuers searched extensively for the woman and her son, reportedly from the Prague-West district, in the surroundings of the Pec pod Sněžkou mountain resort on Saturday. Both were found dead in a forest near Růžová hora foothills after 12 p.m. on Monday.

Detectives along with criminal investigators examined the scene until late into the night to determine the circumstances surrounding both deaths. After examining the bodies, the authorities concluded that the deaths were violent, a murder and a suicide, Kormošová said.

Several Czech media outlets reported that the child was found strangled and the woman was hanged.

The woman's partner, the father of their son, reported the pair missing at a police station in Libčice nad Vltavou near Prague last Friday, Dec. 30. Police then launched a search for the missing persons.

Officials say the woman likely drove to the boarding house in Pec pod Sněžkou where she was staying with her son on Sunday, Dec. 25. She booked the stay until Dec. 30, the police said.

The owner of the pension contacted the police on Friday evening, saying she had seen the woman for the last time on Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 27. Her room was locked and her car was still parked outside the pension. Once the room was opened it was discovered to be empty but the woman's belongings were still there.

The mother and child were last seen via CCTV at the changing station of the cableway to Sněžka, the highest mountain in Krkonoše, on Růžová hora on the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 28, the police announced on Monday.

This has been the first tragic death in Krkonoše, the highest mountain range in the Czech Republic, reported this winter season.