Indonesian police have confirmed that the dismembered human remains found on the east coast of Bali belong to a missing Ukrainian citizen. The identity was established based on DNA test results.
This was reported by Bali police spokesman Ariasandi, according to the Jakarta Globe.
Laboratory tests conducted at the National Police Forensic Laboratory Center in Jakarta showed that the DNA of the body parts found matched the genetic samples provided by the victim’s parents.
“The DNA profile from the body parts we submitted was compared with control samples from the victim’s parents. The results showed a match,” the police said.
The remains were found by local residents on February 26 near Ketewel Beach in the Sukawati district of Gianyar. After that, during a search of the river mouth and along the coast, law enforcement officers found other body parts, including the head, torso, arms, and legs.
Due to the condition of the remains, visual identification was impossible, so investigators sent six bone samples to the national forensic laboratory for DNA analysis. The results confirmed that the remains belonged to 28-year-old Ukrainian citizen Igor Komarov, who had previously been reported missing.
As part of the investigation, the Bali Police General Crimes Directorate also reported that forensic analysis had established that bloodstains found at the villa and in a Toyota Avanza car in the Tabanan district were identical to the DNA of Komarov’s mother.
“Blood spatters found at the villa and in the Avanza car, which is suspected to have been used by the perpetrators, were examined, and the results are identical to the DNA of the victim’s mother,” Ariasandi said.
According to investigators, these results reinforced suspicions that Komarov was transported in this car and held at the villa in Tabanan before his disappearance.
Earlier, police reported that Komarov was kidnapped on February 15 in Jimbaran. The suspects’ movements were established from CCTV footage, which recorded a car and two motorcycles traveling between the districts of Tabanan and Badung.
Law enforcement officers detained one suspect in West Nusa Tenggara. Six other foreigners are suspected of Komarov’s abduction. They have been placed on a wanted list, and the Bali police have asked Interpol to issue “red notices” for an international search.
According to the investigation, the detainee rented a car with a fake passport, which was later used in the kidnapping of the Ukrainian. The man told the police that he was unaware of the crime and agreed to rent the car at the request of others in exchange for 6 million rupiah (about $350). According to the police, four suspects have already left Bali, while two are believed to remain in Indonesia. Bali police said the investigation is ongoing to determine the role of each suspect and the motive for the alleged kidnapping and murder.
According to the New York Post, 28-year-old Ukrainian tourist Igor Komarov was kidnapped on February 15 by a group of men while riding a scooter. The attack took place during a military-style operation involving a convoy of cars in Jimbaran, a coastal area of Bali popular with Russian and Ukrainian citizens. Komarov was traveling in Bali with his girlfriend Eva Mishalova, a blogger with nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram. It is believed that a photo Mishalova posted on Valentine’s Day with the caption “F—k 14 February, love you everyday” may have inadvertently revealed Komarov’s whereabouts to his kidnappers.
Komarov is the son of Alexander Petrovsky, a businessman from Dnipro who has been mentioned in local media reports about his significant business influence, high-level political connections, and alleged ties to organized crime.
