German police confirmed Saturday they had searched open spaces in Berlin after the disappearance of Anna Mikhalchuk, a 52-year-old artist and outspoken critic of the Kremlin. ( dpa )
She disappeared from her home on March 21. Berlin newspapers described her as being depressed recently.
Police spokesman Bernhard Schodrowski said Saturday 90 police checked out a lake, a railway embankment and an area occupied by garden allotments on Friday, but ended the search without finding anything. The missing-person inquiry would continue.
He said police had some clues, but he declined to say what they were. The spokesman said there was no evidence suggesting a political crime against her, but police would keep this possibility in mind.
Mikhalchuk has been living in the city's central Charlottenburg district with her husband, Mikhail Ryklin, the Russian philosopher. Both have been extensively quoted in Russia as critics of President Vladimir Putin's regime.