Four-Day Search for Pavel Ends in Tragedy

Search operations involving more than 200 volunteers continued for four days. The body of the child, who went missing on January 30, was found by rescuers on the night of February 3 under the ice near the Lower Shingorsky Waterfall.

Police detained a suspect in Pskov. He turned out to be 38-year-old Pyotr Zhilkin, who, according to investigators, confessed to the crime and showed where he drowned the boy. When questioned by the investigator, he admitted his guilt. During a search of the suspect, the following were seized:

• A computer containing child pornography;
• A mobile phone with correspondence in which the child, according to messages, threatened to reveal something if he did not receive money from Zhilkin.

Pavel grew up in a large family. According to the publication Fontanka, it could not be called prosperous. The boy had three siblings. According to his grandmother, the child did not attend school because he was not ready for studies. Relatives knew that Pasha sometimes washed cars near a fast-food restaurant to earn some money. On the day of his disappearance, he got into a car with Zhilkin, after which his mother reported to the police.

The suspect is a native of the Luhansk region. Previously, he lived in Rostov, and then moved to Saint Petersburg, being registered in the Vsevolozhsky District of the Leningrad Region. A criminal case has been opened for murder, and investigators are also checking possible involvement of Pyotr Zhilkin in other crimes.