The Prosecutor’s Office conducts the criminal investigation into the case of the young woman from Orhei, who was found dead in Telenești district, said the head of the General Police Inspectorate Viorel Cernăuțeanu. According to him, the police did a huge work to find the missing young woman and seized the recordings of all the video cameras existing on the Orhei-Telenesti road. Cernăuțeanu confirmed that the main suspect in this case, Gheorghe Cotorobai, was an employee of the Ministry of the Interior between 1999 and 2000, IPN reports.
The head of the General Police Inspectorate said that since the young woman’s disappearance was announced, police officers have analyzed the surveillance cameras and started searches in Orhei and its vicinity. It was later determined that the suspect’s car left Orhei municipality and the searches were extended to Telenești district.
“I cannot provide much of the details of the investigation because the case is handled by the Prosecutor’s Office, which manages the criminal investigation. Any provided information can jeopardize the course of the criminal investigation. The documentation process didn’t include only the analysis of video images and deciphering of phone conversations. During the first days, searches were conducted in Orhei municipality. Later, based on the data we accumulated, we moved on to Telenești district. Certain circumstances show that the person pondered over some actions and had particular intentions and this makes us to have reasonable suspicions. But it’s a reasonable hunch, not a finding. All the seized cameras are with night images. The illegal actions were committed at night. So, the quality of the images wasn’t the best one. All the wells, pits, diggings were checked. It was an enormous workload,” Viorel Cernăuțeanu stated in the program “At 360 Degrees” on Radio Moldova station.
The main suspect, Gheorghe Cotorobai, was placed in custody for 30 days on April 19, on charges of kidnapping. The head of the General Police Inspectorate admits that the suspect was an employee of the Ministry of Interior and possessed a weapon.
“Gheorghe Cotorobai studied at the Police College in 1997-1998. From 1999-2000, for two years, he worked for the Telenești Police Inspectorate, namely in that locality. Later, he resigned and since 2000 hasn’t worked in the Ministry of Interior or another institution managed by the Ministry. He owned a gun, but he also had the necessary documents from a psychiatrist, narcologist. At the initial stage, we only knew that a girl disappeared in Orhei. It was only known that she got into a means of transport at a waiting station in Orhei. Therefore, the first searches were conducted in Orhei. Subsequently, the analysis of all recordings showed that this means of transport left Orhei municipality. The time taken to reach Telenești was longer than normal and this gave us grounds to check the route to Telenești, together with all the adjoining roads,” said the head of the General Police Inspectorate.
The lifeless body of the young woman from Orhei was found on April 19 in a weeded area near Chiţcanii Vechi village of Teleneşti district. The police were notified of the disappearance of the 19-year-old girl on April 12.
