The teenage girl murdered after a kidnapping allegedly organised by her dad had recently written an essay about how great he was.
Victim Vanja Gjorchevska, 14, was found dead in the village of Brazda, on the outskirts of Skopje, North Macedonia, on Sunday, 3rd December.
The teenage girl was bundled into a sleeping bag when she was snatched six days earlier on Monday, 27th November, and then shot in the head by one of the gang. Then her body was buried in a makeshift grave and the Citroen kidnap car torched.
Police now believe her father Aleksandar Gjorchevski was part of the plot to secure a ransom payment from Vanja’s wealthy mother, Zorica Gjorchevska.
The fact that the murdered girl had hero-worshipped her dad was revealed by Vanja’s teacher, Biljana Stojanoska, who took to Facebook to describe her as kind and caring to her classmates.
She also recalled an essay she had written named her dad as her hero. She said: “We were doing a social experiment for Thanksgiving. A part of the assignment was to write about the person they are most grateful to. She wrote a letter to her father.”
Prosecutors believe he knew that his former partner, the girl’s mother, had just sold a luxury apartment and had cash on hand, and tipped off the kidnappers about his daughter’s route to school.
Gjorchevski has been remanded under 48-hour pre-charge custody by Criminal Court judges and is being held at Shuto Orizari prison, reports local media.
Police say the gang was led by rogue far-right politician Ljupco Palevski, nicknamed Palcho, who fled the country on 30th November and is believed to be hiding in Bulgaria.
Media suspect Palevski shot the girl after realising she could no longer be ransomed after she reportedly suffocated to death in the trunk of the kidnap vehicle.
The rest of the gang have been named as Velibor Manev, Vlatko Keshishev, and Bore Videvski who are all being held in custody.
As they unraveled the crime police found the kidnap car had been taken from another victim of the gang, Panche Zhezhovski, 74, from the city of Veles.
Zhezhovski, who was a retired hairdresser, was reportedly shot dead over a EUR 500 (GBP 429) debt owed to one of the gang members on 22nd November.
His dead body was found in the vicinity of Veles the same day police found 14-year-old Vanja’s remains.
North Macedonia police issued an international arrest warrant on 4th December for Palevski for his role in the double murder.
Minister of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia, Oliver Spasovski, 47, said during a press conference: “According to the current evidence, the main organiser and executor is the suspect Palevski, who killed the minor sometime around 10am on 27th November.
“I promise that this monster, whose trail we are following, will be brought before the court the moment he steps on our soil.”
