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Daily Record
Daily Record
World
Ryan Fahey & John-Paul Clark

Death of mother and son on Stena Line ferry incident now treated as murder-suicide

An incident where a mother is believed to have dived into the sea to save her son in Sweden is now being investigated as a murder-suicide.

Cops investigating the deaths on Friday, June 30, are now treating it as murder, with a possible theory that the mum deliberately jumped overboard with the little boy, reports the Daily Mirror.

The mother, 36, and child, 6, have been identified only by their first names, Paulina and Lech, are both from Grudziądzt in Poland.

They had been travelling on board the Stena Spirit ferry that left from Gdynia in Poland and went to the Swedish port of Karlskrona.

Following the tragic incident an enormous search and rescue mission was launched, with NATO planes assisting.

A massive rescue operation was launched after the mother and son entered the sea. (Daily Mirror)

Rescuers managed to haul the woman and her boy out of the water and airlifted them to a hospital, but they couldn't be saved and were pronounced dead.

Initial reports stated that the mother had heroically dived in to save her boy but eyewitnesses who saw them just moments before the incident have described Paulina's "tired" and "depressed" appearance.

Fellow passenger Beata told Fakt: "“I remember thinking it was unusual to have such a big baby in a stroller , but the boy may have been disabled in some way. She looked tired, depressed. Her body language was so..."

“I was walking past her. Now I wish I had asked her any questions, made contact, anything," she continued.

"I didn't get the immediate impression that she needed help, but it would be better if I stayed by her side. But it was cold and I hid below deck."

Swedish police have lead the investigation with their Polish colleagues assisting.

Thomas Johansson from the Swedish Police, says there were a number of circumstances described by the ferry crew and passengers, CCTV footage, and identification of the victims, that has allowed them to investigate it as a murder case.

Mr Johannson told Fakt: "However, I would like to emphasise that there is no suspect and we do not intend to charge anyone."

When questioned if the reason for the lack of a suspect is "because she's dead", he cut the conversation short saying he could not answer.

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