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BC  

Arrest after disappearance

The husband of a B.C. woman who went missing in Peru three months ago has been taken into custody in connection with the disappearance, which is now being investigated as a murder.

Kimberlee Suzanne Kasatkin, 41, originally from Abbotsford, had been living in Lima with her common-law husband Christopher Franz and their two young children for nearly four years.

Last November, she disappeared without a trace.

“Initially this was reported as abandonment of residence… which just means she packed up and left,” her brother Roger Grafstrom told CTV News.

Kimberlee Kasatkin last spoke to her parents in November, but may have had contact with friends since.

“We knew on our side that wasn’t true, she’s not going to pack up and leave without her kids.”

This week, police arrested her husband in connection with her disappearance.

He will remain in police custody while investigators wait for the results of a DNA test.

The case is now being treated as “femicide,” defined under Peruvian law as the murder of a woman.

Franz initially told a missing persons blogger that the mother of his children was depressed and wanted to leave the country.

He says she took her passport, phone, credit cards and clothing but disappeared without a note.

Her parents, Kathleen and Alexander Kasatkin, said they were last in touch with Kimberlee on Nov. 26, 2016.

They are currently in Lima advocating on behalf of their daughter and grandchildren.

With files from CTV Vancouver

 



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