Bodies discovered days apart in remote areas
Three bodies, including that of a 15-year-old boy, were discovered inside a van parked in an isolated area of the Stara Planina range on Sunday. Investigators later confirmed they were connected to three other victims found near a burned-down hut six days earlier.
Police said CCTV footage showed the two groups saying goodbye at the hut. The three who stayed behind were later filmed setting the structure on fire before their deaths.
Gunshot wounds and weapons recovered
The first three men, aged 45, 49 and 51, were found on 2 February near the destroyed hut, according to Bulgaria’s interior ministry. All had gunshot wounds with no signs of struggle or additional trauma, prosecutors said. Forensic analysis indicated the shots were fired from close range.
Authorities recovered two handguns and a rifle near the Petrohan mountain pass, roughly an hour from the capital Sofia.
Six days later, officers located two men and a teenage boy dead inside a camper van near Mount Okolchista. National police chief Zahari Vaskov said the victims were directly linked to the earlier Petrohan case. Autopsies suggested two murders followed by one suicide inside the vehicle.
Officials describe unprecedented crime
Acting prosecutor general Borislav Sarafov said the case contained “more shocking details” than the television drama Twin Peaks, while the national police chief called it an unprecedented crime unlike any previously seen in Bulgaria.
Most of the victims were members of a nature protection non-governmental organisation, officials added. Investigators continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the Bulgaria mountain deaths as public speculation and criticism of the inquiry grow.
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