Three weeks after the heartbreaking news that the seven-year-old Justīne Reinikova was found dead miles away from her home in the Rogovka village, locals still have many unanswered questions.
“The only thing I've heard, what exactly I asked the policeman that maybe an accident happened? To which I got the answer: No. It was purposefully done, and it had been done terribly. As all citizens in Latvia, we are not informed, because I do not think we are any more special,” said Līvija Plavinska, head of the Association of Nautrēnu civil parish.
The Reinikovi family came to Rogovka about ten months ago. What happens to their home while Justīne's stepmother and father have been arrested as suspects, is also unknown, and the local government has no right to intervene in the management of private property.
“Both cars are outside the house [..]. The house, the garden are unmown, untidy,” Plavinska said.
The Orphan's Court of Rēzekne municipality, lawyers for both suspects, and the State Police did not provide more information.
State Police spokeswoman Simona Grāvīte said: "At the moment the investigation will continue. The police must strengthen the evidence as well as the results of the experts are expected. Therefore, in view of the interest of the investigation, let us refrain from any comments at this time."
While the investigation is ongoing, Justīne's stepmother and father have been put into custody for at least two months, then another hearing will follow, where it will be decided whether to extend it. Their lawyer Valērijs Petrovskis said he would not ask for a change in the means of security applied.
As reported earlier, on Tuesday, June 20, State Police announced that Justīne Reinikova, who had been missing since May 5, had been found dead with obvious bodily harm. The girl's remains were found in the basement of an abandoned house in the village of Dubuļi, 60 kilometers from Rogovka where the family lived and the girl was last seen alive.
