Deceased/Not Found Danka Ilić, 1 year old, Bor, Serbia, 26 March 2024 *arrest*

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Not sure if I understood it quite right. Does he think that the suspects are not the perpetrators and that somebody else is responsible for Danka's fate, or does he think that more people are involved than just the ones we know about ?

He said:
"Even if an indictment is filed and people are convicted,
for me this will still remain a big mystery.
I cannot come to terms with the fact that two people of such capacities and intellectual abilities managed to hide such a big secret in this way."

In other words,
IMO he doubts that these 2 suspects had the intellectual ability to pull such a crime all by themselves.
No DNA, hiding the body that cannot be traced, etc.

Well, that is my understanding.

But am I right? :rolleyes:

bbm
Ivan, Danka and her brother are 3 persons, not "two children". Where is the error?

Ivana + Danka + brother.
Mum and 2 kids.

I don't know why Google translated it in this awkward way :oops:

PS
OK girls
I don't know Serbian so I only depend on Google translator.

It does what it can poor thing,
but sometimes the text appears weird
despite its efforts.

And I know as much as you do about this tragic case.

Meaning: Not much.

JMO
 
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Not sure if I understood it quite right. Does he think that the suspects are not the perpetrators and that somebody else is responsible for Danka's fate, or does he think that more people are involved than just the ones we know about ?

I found a recording of the interview (www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VeFtHlCgws - starts at 17:45). Disclaimer - I am considered fluent but I don't consider myself highly proficient.

What he seems to be saying is that he doesn't believe the two in custody are intellectually capable of committing the crime and keeping it a secret. He says he has spoken with some police officers who have spoken directly with the suspects and they agree.

He reiterates he doesn't think these people (the two in custody) could have kept the location of Danka's body secret for this amount of time. He personally thinks there is something more to it - that someone else is involved in this, whether it's kidnapping, or murder, or whatever it is, and this [what is alleged by police] isn't the truth and simply isn't realistic. That these two men, in this way, without Danka, that they could hide their tracks and not talk about the details, they simply don't have the capacity to do something like that.

He thinks a big mistake was made by police in the beginning and as time went on, it became harder to fix that mistake. He said police started in one direction initially and when officials suddenly came out with the two suspects and the story of what supposedly happened, he personally was surprised. And as time went on, he felt more uneasy about it.

Annoyingly, the show hosts kept interrupting/speaking over him at key points. But essentially, he seems to be saying the initial direction the police were going in and which media reported on in terms of the circumstances around Danka's disappearance (he chooses his words very carefully here but I believe he is alluding to the theory/rumors that the mother/parents were involved) seemed easier to prove. But then out of nowhere police switched to an entirely different set of circumstances and suspects, which he acknowledges is fine and does sometimes happen in investigations. However he states they did that here with no evidence, no trace, no witness and still no Danka which raises serious concerns. He thinks that was a mistake. He thinks police had a lot of public pressure to solve the disappearance and while they may have believed these men were involved, he thinks they rushed it and mistakes were made. He wishes police had given themselves more time to be totally certain as to what happened and gather clear evidence. He thinks that mistake will continue to impact this case.

I did not watch the entire program but I gathered the main topic of discussion was the ticking clock and whether there would be an indictment. It sounds like the entire panel, including this man, believe the two in custody will be indicted.
 
I found a recording of the interview (www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VeFtHlCgws - starts at 17:45). Disclaimer - I am considered fluent but I don't consider myself highly proficient.

What he seems to be saying is that he doesn't believe the two in custody are intellectually capable of committing the crime and keeping it a secret. He says he has spoken with some police officers who have spoken directly with the suspects and they agree.

He reiterates he doesn't think these people (the two in custody) could have kept the location of Danka's body secret for this amount of time. He personally thinks there is something more to it - that someone else is involved in this, whether it's kidnapping, or murder, or whatever it is, and this [what is alleged by police] isn't the truth and simply isn't realistic. That these two men, in this way, without Danka, that they could hide their tracks and not talk about the details, they simply don't have the capacity to do something like that.

He thinks a big mistake was made by police in the beginning and as time went on, it became harder to fix that mistake. He said police started in one direction initially and when officials suddenly came out with the two suspects and the story of what supposedly happened, he personally was surprised. And as time went on, he felt more uneasy about it.

Annoyingly, the show hosts kept interrupting/speaking over him at key points. But essentially, he seems to be saying the initial direction the police were going in and which media reported on in terms of the circumstances around Danka's disappearance (he chooses his words very carefully here but I believe he is alluding to the theory/rumors that the mother/parents were involved) seemed easier to prove. But then out of nowhere police switched to an entirely different set of circumstances and suspects, which he acknowledges is fine and does sometimes happen in investigations. However he states they did that here with no evidence, no trace, no witness and still no Danka which raises serious concerns. He thinks that was a mistake. He thinks police had a lot of public pressure to solve the disappearance and while they may have believed these men were involved, he thinks they rushed it and mistakes were made. He wishes police had given themselves more time to be totally certain as to what happened and gather clear evidence. He thinks that mistake will continue to impact this case.

I did not watch the entire program but I gathered the main topic of discussion was the ticking clock and whether there would be an indictment. It sounds like the entire panel, including this man, believe the two in custody will be indicted.
Do you know who the person being interviewed is? Is he an investigator, police or reporter? Has he worked on the case?

It sounds like this investigation has gone south. There is no physical evidence to link these men to Danka.

The comments following the linked article are interesting, Google translates them to English. It seems most of the people writing don’t believe the men who were arrested are guilty of a crime involving Danka. Many think the mother is involved & that Danka is alive. There are similar comments after other reports but this has more & they seem to believe similar circumstances that add up.
 
Do you know who the person being interviewed is? Is he an investigator, police or reporter? Has he worked on the case?

It sounds like this investigation has gone south. There is no physical evidence to link these men to Danka.

The comments following the linked article are interesting, Google translates them to English. It seems most of the people writing don’t believe the men who were arrested are guilty of a crime involving Danka. Many think the mother is involved & that Danka is alive. There are similar comments after other reports but this has more & they seem to believe similar circumstances that add up.

Post 238
 

"DETENTION EXTENDED FOR THE ACCUSED OF THE MURDER OF DANKA ILIC.

They remain behind bars for another 30 days,

awaiting the Court's decision on the confirmation of the indictment.


The Higher Public Prosecution in Zaječar
accused Dejan D. and Srđan J. of murdering a two-year-old girl
and proposed that they be sentenced to life
imprisonment.

The Court can confirm the indictment
or send it back to supplement the investigation.

Even if the indictment is returned for amendment,
the accused will not be released,
because it was filed within the legal term of six months,
which the accused can spend in custody until the indictment.

The body of the girl,
who was last seen on March 26,
has not been found
although more than 30 locations have been searched."


PS
Google Translator did its best to translate,
Well done! :)

Also,
Serbian "Blic" MSM is always on top of the news about Danka.

By the way,
the name "Danka" is popular in my country (Poland) too,
but it is diminutive form of the name "Danuta".
So...
Formal - Danuta
Informal - Danka or Danusia.

Danuta -
a female name, probably of Lithuanian origin, from the word "danutie"
(a combination of the meanings heaven and daughter)
or Latin, from the word "donata" (given by God).

It may also be derived from the South Slavic names Dana, Danka, Danica.

It means a child given by God.
 
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An article which I've translated below. Serbian / Croatian / Bosnian isn't my first language but I have close to native fluency.

OPTUŽENI ZA UBISTVO DANKE ILIĆ MOGU DA ZAVRŠE NA SLOBODI "Blic" otkriva šta sada sledi u slučaju ubistva devojčice​

Those accused in the murder of Danka Ilić could end up free - "Blic" explains what is currently happening in the case of the girl's murder

  • Tužilaštvo u Zaječaru podiglo je optužnicu protiv Dejana Dragijevića i Srđana Jankovića zbog sumnje da su ubili Danku Ilić (2) iz Bora
  • Veće suda će proceniti optužnicu i odlučiti o početku suđenja ili prikupljanju dodatnih dokaza

  • The prosecutor's office in Zaječar filed an indictment against Dragan Dragijević and Srđan Janković under suspicion that they murdered Danka Ilić (2) of Bor.
  • The court panel will assess the indictment and decide whether to start the trial, or to demand that additional evidence is obtained.
Više javno tužilaštvo u Zaječaru podiglo je optužnicu protiv Dejana Dragijevića i Srđana Jankovića zbog sumnje da ubili Danku Ilić (2) iz Bora, a optužnicom je obuhvaćen i otac od Dragijevića, Radoslav, kojem se na teret stavlja da nije prijavio Dejana i Srđana policiji, kao i da je pomogao sinu da se reši tela. Uprkos tome što je tužilaštvo do detalja opisalo kako je zločin izvršen, advokat Radomir Munižaba objašnjava za "Blic" da je sada sve u rukama Višeg suda u Zaječaru koji će odlučiti da li suđenje može da počne ili je ipak potrebno da se prikupe još neki dokazi.

The higher public prosecutor's office in Zaječar has filed an indictment naming Dejan Dragijević and Srđan Janković as suspects in the murder of Danka Ilić (2) of Bor, and has included Dragijević's father Radoslav who is charged with failing to inform the police about Dejan and Srđan's actions, as well as helping his son to dispose of the body. In spite of the fact that the prosecution has described in detail how the crime was committed, the lawyer Radomir Munižaba explained to "Blic" that everything is in the hands of the prosecutor's office in Zaječar as to whether or not the trial can begin, or if it is necessary to bring in further evidence.

Advokat Munižaba objašnjava da okrivljeni, Dragijević i Janković, i njihovi branioci imaju pravo da podnesu pisani odgovor na optužnicu.

The lawyer Munižaba explains that the accused, Dragijević and Janković and their defence team have the right to reply to the indictment in writing.

As this post is rather a long one, I'll stop here and continue with the rest of the article in a second post shortly.

By the way, Zaječar is famous for excellent crystal dishes, crockery and other cookware if anyone is interested in that sort of thing.
 
The article I linked above continues as follows.

- Nakon podnošenja odgovora, veće nadležnog suda će ispitati optužnicu.Veće, ukoliko utvrdi da je potrebno bolje razjašnjenje stanja stvari da bi se ispitala osnovanost optužnice, narediće da se istraga od strane tužilaštva dopuni, odnosno da se prikupe određeni dokazi - kaže advokat Munižaba.

- After the reply has been submitted, a panel from the prosecuting the case will examine the indictment. If the panel decides that a better explanation of the matter is needed in order to assess the reasonableness of the indictment, it can then order the prosecution to bolster it by gathering additional evidence -Munižaba the lawyer explains.

Optuženi mogu na slobodu?​

Could the accused be released?

Naš sagovornik ističe da prema pravilima Zakona o krivičnom postupku(ZKP), veće ispitujući optužnicu može doneti rešenje da nema mesta optužbi i da se krivični postupak obustavlja.

Our correspondent tells us that according to the criminal code (ZKP), if the panel examining the indictment decides that the indictment is baseless, criminal proceedings are brought to a halt.

- To će uslediti ukoliko ustanove da delo iz optužbe nije krivično delo ili da nema dovoljno dokaza za opravdanu sumnju da su okrivljeni učinili delo koje je predmet optužbe. Međutim, ukoliko veće donese odluku kojom se potvrđuje optužnica tužilaštva, protiv tog rešenja okrivljeni i branioci mogu da izjave žalbu nadležnom Apelacionom sudu - objašnjava advokat Munižaba.

- This will happen if the offence referred to in the indictment is not a criminal offence, or if there isn't enough proof to support the fact that the accused committed the crime that is the subject of the indictment. However, if the panel confirms the indictment, then the accused and defence team can apply to the related court of appeals, according to the lawyer Munižaba.

The other points in the article relate to the body apparently been brought to one of the accused's back garden, and subsequently moved to an illegal rubbish tip. As these points have been previously translated here, I didn't translate the rest of the article.

IMO the whole thing is extremely suspicious to me and I'm not convinced that these two bumbling idiots are responsible.


-
 
In 1995 a little girl named Morgan Nick, (6) was kidnapped from a soft ball game. There was a description of a suspect and the red truck he was driving, but sadly she was never found. Eight weeks after Morgan disappeared, Billy Jack Lincks, attempted another kidnapping just 11 miles away, driving the same red truck. He denied any involvement in Morgan’s kidnapping but was found guilty in the second case and remained jailed until his death in 2000.

Police found the red truck Linck’s had owned in 2020, the new owner allowed it to be searched, in vacuuming they found hair that was sent for a new method of DNA testing in 2023. It was determined the hair was either Morgan’s mother’s or her mother’s relative. None of the family had ever been in the truck and none of the prior owners had any link or connection to Morgan’s family. LE concluded the hair had to be Morgan’s. On 10/01/24, the FBI formally connected Links to Morgan Nick, 29 years after her kidnapping.

Sorry, I got kind of wordy - my point being this truck was used for 25 years. There were multiple owners between 1995, and 2020. I think it is safe to assume the truck was cleaned at some points in time after 1995. And yet after 25 years there was still DNA evidence linking Morgan Nick to this vehicle.

Now we have Danka supposedly being hit by and then placed into this car used by the suspects. Driven somewhere, then possibly driven somewhere again to hide her remains. And yet there is no evidence of her ever having been in the car. Or any other car owned by the suspects? How is that even possible? We shed constantly, skin cells, hair, eye lashes. We leave behind finger prints, hand prints. Tears, saliva, urine.
 
In 1995 a little girl named Morgan Nick, (6) was kidnapped from a soft ball game. There was a description of a suspect and the red truck he was driving, but sadly she was never found. Eight weeks after Morgan disappeared, Billy Jack Lincks, attempted another kidnapping just 11 miles away, driving the same red truck. He denied any involvement in Morgan’s kidnapping but was found guilty in the second case and remained jailed until his death in 2000.

Police found the red truck Linck’s had owned in 2020, the new owner allowed it to be searched, in vacuuming they found hair that was sent for a new method of DNA testing in 2023. It was determined the hair was either Morgan’s mother’s or her mother’s relative. None of the family had ever been in the truck and none of the prior owners had any link or connection to Morgan’s family. LE concluded the hair had to be Morgan’s. On 10/01/24, the FBI formally connected Links to Morgan Nick, 29 years after her kidnapping.

Sorry, I got kind of wordy - my point being this truck was used for 25 years. There were multiple owners between 1995, and 2020. I think it is safe to assume the truck was cleaned at some points in time after 1995. And yet after 25 years there was still DNA evidence linking Morgan Nick to this vehicle.

Now we have Danka supposedly being hit by and then placed into this car used by the suspects. Driven somewhere, then possibly driven somewhere again to hide her remains. And yet there is no evidence of her ever having been in the car. Or any other car owned by the suspects? How is that even possible? We shed constantly, skin cells, hair, eye lashes. We leave behind finger prints, hand prints. Tears, saliva, urine.
Thank you for sharing this. This is exactly why I don't believe she was hit by the car or was inside the car. Fiat Pandas are not particularly sturdy cars (which is why I was surprised they were using this car to work), there's no way they hit something (even a small child) and there's no signs of it happening on the car.

I believe these two were caught drunk out of their minds during their work hours and somehow one of them was convinced that admitting to hitting a child with a car and disposing of her was a less damaging story than "yeah we are drunk at work all the time and we do drive the company's car under the influence".
 
And yet there is no evidence of her ever having been in the car. Or any other car owned by the suspects? How is that even possible?

Just my opinion but perhaps the processes used to seek and attempt to collect DNA from the vehicles was different, between the two cases. In MN's case, I assume they used the most up-to-date techniques and technology and the team attempting the DNA collection was experienced. Can the same be said for Danka's case? Maybe it can. But -- we don't know.
MOO.
 
"(According to the interlocutor),
according to the indictment,

Dejan D.
two days after the murder of the girl, on March 28,
transported the body in a black bag in his Peugeot
from the landfill on the Starobanjska road
to the yard of the family house in Zlot,

and showed it to his brother Dalibor and father Radoslav and told them everything in detail.

Then,
together with his brother,
he took the body of the murdered girl to an abandoned house near the village.

According to the indictment, on March 28,
Dejan was at the police station for an information interview from 1 to 2:30 p.m.,
and he and his brother moved the body from the landfill around 4 p.m. on the same day.

However,
in his confession,
he did not mention his colleague with whom he was arrested seven days later.

On the other hand,
apart from the description of the monstrous crime in the original confession,
Dejan stated that the child's body was later moved again by his father,

which Radoslav denies explicitly all the time.

During the investigation,
Dejan's now deceased brother, Dalibor,
was also arrested,
as well as his father,
who is charged with not reporting the crime,
and also with helping the perpetrator after the murder.

Lawyer Milinko Jovanović,
who is considered one of the best criminals in Serbia,
defends Dejan's father Radoslav D. by official duty,
and he stated that,
in his opinion,
there must be proof of the child's death in the indictment,
and there is none.

'I filed an objection to the indictment,
(which I received on October 3)
to the higher court.

I believe that the indictment must contain proof of the child's death,
but there is none.


I assume that they will return the indictment
to supplement and reconstruct the events on the spot'.

He added
that Radoslav D.,
by law, cannot be accused of helping the perpetrator because he is a close relative of the accused.


Regardless,
Radoslav was charged by the Zaječar prosecutor's office, although in the indictment they refer to the fact that Radoslav helped Srđan J.
who is not his relative."

 
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"(According to the interlocutor),
according to the indictment,

Dejan D.
two days after the murder of the girl, on March 28,
transported the body in a black bag in his Peugeot
from the landfill on the Starobanjska road
to the yard of the family house in Zlot,

and showed it to his brother Dalibor and father Radoslav and told them everything in detail.

Then,
together with his brother,
he took the body of the murdered girl to an abandoned house near the village.

According to the indictment, on March 28,
Dejan was at the police station for an information interview from 1 to 2:30 p.m.,
and he and his brother moved the body from the landfill around 4 p.m. on the same day.

However,
in his confession,
he did not mention his colleague with whom he was arrested seven days later.

On the other hand,
apart from the description of the monstrous crime in the original confession,
Dejan stated that the child's body was later moved again by his father,

which Radoslav denies explicitly all the time.

During the investigation,
Dejan's now deceased brother, Dalibor,
was also arrested,
as well as his father,
who is charged with not reporting the crime,
and also with helping the perpetrator after the murder.

Lawyer Milinko Jovanović,
who is considered one of the best criminals in Serbia,
defends Dejan's father Radoslav D. by official duty,
and he stated that,
in his opinion,
there must be proof of the child's death in the indictment,
and there is none.

'I filed an objection to the indictment,
(which I received on October 3)
to the higher court.

I believe that the indictment must contain proof of the child's death,
but there is none.


I assume that they will return the indictment
to supplement and reconstruct the events on the spot'.

He added
that Radoslav D.,
by law, cannot be accused of helping the perpetrator because he is a close relative of the accused.


Regardless,
Radoslav was charged by the Zaječar prosecutor's office, although in the indictment they refer to the fact that Radoslav helped Srđan J.
who is not his relative."


Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on this, Dotta, and for translating.

In the article you've linked, there's a photo of a search (I suppose) in a cavern or cave-looking place. Do the reporters say what or where that is? I don't suppose it's the edge of landfill, unless the landfill is in a very rural and remote area for some reason.

 
Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on this, Dotta, and for translating.

In the article you've linked, there's a photo of a search (I suppose) in a cavern or cave-looking place. Do the reporters say what or where that is? I don't suppose it's the edge of landfill, unless the landfill is in a very rural and remote area for some reason.

Police checked the area very thoroughly.
It seems to be a kind of underground cave,
it is fenced as it looks dangerous.

You can see an officer being lowered on a rope to this place.
They were searching for little Danka.

1728765149467.jpeg

Photo from link in post nr 252
 
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1729193355409.jpeg

" 'I decided to go to Banjsko Polje,
to my grandfather's household because I lived there as a child in 2013 and 2014,
until my mother passed away.

I drove us to Banjsko Polje and when I arrived at Ulica vojvode Radomir Putnika number 19,
I got out of the car, opened the gate, got back in the car and parked behind the house, where there is a meadow.

All of that was around 13:06 or 13:07.
I thought that the children could play there and that the other space within the yard was not suitable for playing.


When I parked the car,
with the back of the car facing the street,
I got out and took the children out of the car,
first Danka, then my son.

I took a soccer ball out of the trunk and gave it to my son,
and I took pictures of the children.

The children were in front of the car all the time, they were running.
I took five more pictures,
in two of which Danka was alone,
two in which my son was alone,
all of which took less than 10 minutes.


I sat on the bricks while taking pictures of them, and then I put my phone in my pocket and continued to kick the ball with my son, while Danka was running all the time, coming to us, taking the ball, throwing it and smiling.

The furthest I moved away from them was three meters and that was in front of the vehicle, where they were also.

We played for about10 minutes until my son asked to drink water.

I saw that Danka was climbing the hill and that she was about five meters from the car, that is, she was at the very beginning of the path I described' -
she said.

She described that her son was next to her when she went to get water from the car and that she went to the passenger door.

She gave her son water,
he gave her back the bottle, which she put back in her backpack.

Everything, as she said, lasted about two minutes.

'When I looked up at the hill,
I saw that she was gone.

I started calling Danka,
I looked around the meadow where they were playing,
and when I realized that she was not there,
I took my son's hand and we went to look for her along the path on the hill.

We were passing through an open gate, which was one or two meters from the hill.

The gate was from a small yard that we used to keep chickens.

We passed through that yard to the next gate,
which was also open and was then about three meters from the side of the house.

With my son, we went out on the path next to the house that leads through the whole yard,
we went to the right,
made a whole circle, which, according to my estimation, is about 100 meters,
and we came to the back of the car again' -
added Ivana.

The whole time she was moving along the path,
she did not see Danka.

The child was missing.

When she got to the car again. at 1:42 p.m.,
her husband called and she said that Danka was not there,
and he told her to call police.

She ended the call with him and immediately called police,
after which she again moved along the mentioned path,
but from a different direction and came to the turn to the right towards the main gate.

'About a few meters before I turned right onto the path leading to the main gate,
I saw a parked white car with "Vodovod" written on it .

I know it's a Fiat Panda and I think it's a company car.

It was facing the front part towards the intersection in Ulica vojvode Radomir Putnik and about two meters opposite the open gate.

One man, whom I cannot describe, was in the driver's seat, and the other was on the left side of the gate.

I can't describe him either because his back was turned. I stayed for up to two minutes, during which time the man returned to the car and sat in the passenger seat, and then they left' -
said Danka's mother.


Answering the prosecutor's questions,
she said that she saw everything from a distance of five to six meters
and that she had not yet turned onto the path leading to the main gate,
that she did not call Danka when she saw the two men.

She pointed out that she didn't know why she didn't ask them if they had seen Danka,
that she thought the child was nearby
and was going to find her,
that she was scared and that it 'didn't occur to her'.


When the 'Vodovoda' vehicle drove away,
she headed towards the main gate and wanted to see that Danka had not entered the nearby bar."

 
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