Bulgarian police have detained a suspect in connection with the murder of TV journalist Viktoria Marinova, whose body was found in a park in her Danube hometown of Ruse.
"We can say there is a suspect detained," a government source told Reuters on Tuesday.
Prosecutors have said the 30-year-old journalist, who was a presenter and anchor on a local television station, had been raped, beaten and suffocated.
Marinova's body was found in a park near the river on Saturday.
On her last aired TV show, on September 30, Marinova introduced two journalists who were investigating alleged corruption involving EU funds.
She said her regional current affairs show, called Detector, would carry out similar investigations.
While authorities have not established any link to her work so far, her murder has angered and upset many in a country where people are frustrated with rampant corruption and an inefficient and graft-prone judiciary.
Early on Tuesday, civilian volunteers combed bushes and ground along the Danube river in Ruse where Marinova's body was found in an effort to find clues that could help police.
Local people observed a vigil overnight and lay flowers and lit candles in front of her image. Many were stopping to put flowers to commemorate Marinova, who left a seven-year-old daughter, on Tuesday.
"This is extremely frustrating. We do not feel safe at all or calm when such things happen. I did not know her personally , but as a mother I can only feel for her," said 28-year-old Denitsa Peicheva.
