The body of missing beauty influencer Steanie Pieper was found in a Slovenian forest, with her boyfriend arrested by police after he was caught near his burning car
The body of a beauty guru was found by police stuffed inside a suitcase after investigators were guided to a forest by her former boyfriend, who allegedly admitted to strangling her to death.
Stefanie Pieper, 31, went missing on November 23 after she returned to her flat following a Christmas party, after arriving at the property with a friend. Her disappearance was reported the following day, when the Austrian influencer failed to turn up to a scheduled photoshoot.
She was missing for nearly a week before Styrian State Police said they arrested her ex-boyfriend, alleging he had led them to a forest in Slovenia, where her body was found stuffed into a suitcase.
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Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung reports that her ex, also 31, had allegedly admitted to strangling her, and led police to the forest after having travelled “several times in a car” to Slovenia. The service said in a statement that he was arrested after the man was found in the “immediate vicinity” of his burning car, a Volkswagen Golf.
They said: “The man is believed to have traveled to Slovenia several times in his car. He could not be contacted by the investigating police. On Monday evening, November 24, 2025, the Slovenian police reported that a car had caught fire in the parking lot of a casino near the border. This was the 31-year-old man’s car. He was found in the immediate vicinity of the burning vehicle and arrested by the Slovenian police. Extradition to Austria has been requested.”
Local reports have said the influencer had informed friends when she arrived home in WhatsApp messages, but followed them up with much more chilling texts. After she took her dog, Marlow, for a walk, she is said to have texted “there’s a creep in the stairwell” of her building, describing them as a “dark figure”.
The unnamed ex-boyfriend has since been extradited to Austria, police confirmed, and police added they have arrested two of her ex-boyfriend’s family members. Authorities said in an update following the arrests that they were being questioned, with a statement adding: “The detainees are in police custody and are being questioned.”
Witnesses had allegedly said previously that they heard an argument in the influencer’s building, before witnessing her ex-partner carrying a suspicious roll of fabric. The grim discovery of her body came following massive search efforts that saw investigators spend days combing the area where she lived for clues, deploying both sniffer dogs and drones.
Police had searched several properties belonging to the suspects family before arresting the ex-boyfriend in connection with the alleged crime.
