Stefanie Pieper’s disappearance began as a family worry and quickly escalated into an international search—one that ended in a forest across the border, where investigators say the 31-year-old beauty influencer had been hidden inside a suitcase.
Pieper vanished on Nov. 23, shortly after arriving home from a Christmas party. She had stepped out of a taxi with a friend at her apartment in Styria and seemed fine, according to police. But when she failed to show up for a scheduled photo shoot, her family sounded the alarm. By the next day, authorities confirmed the influencer was missing and unreachable.
What happened next unfolded in a series of grim developments spread across Austria and Slovenia. Investigators immediately zeroed in on Pieper’s ex-boyfriend, also 31, who could not be contacted and whose behavior raised suspicions. Police said he had made repeated trips to Slovenia in the days surrounding her disappearance.
Then came the car fire.
On the night of Nov. 24, Slovenian authorities reported that a vehicle had gone up in flames in a casino parking lot near the border. The burning car belonged to Pieper’s ex-boyfriend. Officers found him nearby and took him into custody. Austria quickly filed for extradition.
Local outlets Oe24 and 20 Minuten later reported that Pieper had sent a WhatsApp message saying she made it home safely—followed minutes later by another one filled with dread. She believed someone was in her stairwell. Neighbors reported hearing an argument and allegedly saw her ex-boyfriend at the building. By then, Pieper was no longer answering her phone.
The investigation widened. Forensic tests on the ex-boyfriend’s vehicle initially turned up nothing. But police in both countries continued their search, sweeping areas of Slovenia while keeping his family members under scrutiny. The next day, the Styrian State Police revealed that two of the ex-boyfriend’s relatives had been arrested as well. All three were being held and questioned.
Then investigators say the ex-boyfriend broke.
According to Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung, he allegedly confessed to strangling Pieper and led authorities to a remote forest in Slovenia. There, police found a suitcase containing the influencer’s body—nearly a week after she vanished.
Police in Styria said cooperation between Austrian and Slovenian authorities would continue as they piece together Pieper’s final hours and determine who else may have played a role in concealing her disappearance.
