Volunteers search for Pavel's body in Yalgeleevo after killer's confession

Dozens of volunteers have arrived in Lomonosovsky District of Leningrad Oblast to participate in search operations. The operational headquarters is concentrated in the village of Yalgeleevo, where, according to investigative data, the body of the missing child may be located.

The suspect detained in Pskov Oblast, surnamed Zhilkin, after being delivered to St. Petersburg, confessed to the murder and indicated the location where he drowned the boy. The investigative group, along with him, went to the specified location to verify his testimony and find the body.

Pavel disappeared on January 30 around 16:00. The child left the Lenta hypermarket on Tallinn Highway and headed to a nearby fast-food restaurant. There, he often washed car windows for money. That day, after talking with one of the familiar drivers, the boy got into his car, which then drove away. From that moment on, the child was not seen again.

More than 200 volunteers participated in the search operation. The Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case for murder. The Criminal Investigation Department formed a group to coordinate with the police and Rosgvardiya, and technical means of monitoring communications were employed.

Video cameras recorded the suspect«s car in the village of Yalgeleevo around 16:45 on January 30, but without the child. However, the recording was not continuous along the entire path from Lenta to the village. Later, a woman brought the boy in a Renault Logan and immediately left. Zhilkin himself left the settlement the next day.

On the evening of January 31, law enforcement officers conducted searches at the suspect«s house in Yalgeleevo and at his ex-wife»s place. The man was detained on February 2 in Pskov when he went outside. In the apartment he had rented, operatives found numerous empty vodka bottles.

According to investigative information, evidence of his acquaintance with Pavel was found in the detainee«s correspondence. The child, as follows from the messages, threatened to reveal some information if he did not receive monetary compensation. Their last meeting took place in the hypermarket parking lot on January 30, after which the schoolboy vanished.