Tragic news emerges as 31-year-old influencer Stefanie Pieper has been discovered dead in a secluded area of a Slovenian forest.

The unsettling find comes after her former boyfriend reportedly confessed to the crime, subsequently leading authorities to the concealed location.

According to Austria’s leading newspaper, Kronen Zeitung, detectives uncovered Pieper’s body following the ex-boyfriend’s alleged admission that he strangled her and directed them to the site of her remains.

Since the confession, the suspect has been extradited from Slovenia to Austria, with his brother and stepfather also detained as the investigation deepens.

Pieper was last seen during a holiday event on Sunday, prompting concern from friends when she failed to attend a scheduled modeling shoot the following day.

Officers tracked down the suspected killer on Monday, finding him near a vehicle that had been set on fire.

Influencer Stefanie Pieper, 31, has been found dead in a remote Slovenian forest

Detectives located Pieper’s body after the ex reportedly admitted he strangled her and then guided officers to where he left her remains, per Austria’s largest newspaper Kronen Zeitung

Pieper’s movements in the days before her disappearance came under even greater scrutiny after investigators found records showing her ex had crossed the Austria–Slovenia border multiple times.

The influencer was last spotted early Sunday morning, stepping out of a taxi with a friend outside her home in Graz, Austria’s second-largest city. 

She didn’t show up for a planned photoshoot the next day, prompting immediate concern from those expecting her.

When police checked her apartment, they discovered her dog inside alone and learned her phone had been switched off, according to Austrian newspaper Kurier.

Her former boyfriend was taken into custody in Slovenia on Monday after authorities say he set his car on fire in a casino lot. 

‘He was found in the immediate vicinity of the burning vehicle and arrested by the Slovenian police. Extradition to Austria has been requested,’ officials said.

The photographer booked to work with her became worried when he couldn’t reach her and went to her building in Graz. 

There, he unexpectedly encountered her on-off partner, 31-year-old Peter M., described locally as a part-time security guard and unsuccessful poker player. 

Pieper was last seen on Sunday at a holiday gathering, and friends raised the alarm when she failed to show up for a modeling shoot the next day

Peter let him inside, but the man was unsettled enough to immediately alert police.

Officers arrived quickly and soon located Pieper’s phone discarded in nearby bushes.

As they canvassed the area, neighbors reported hearing ‘loud noises’ coming from her apartment the same morning she vanished.

Investigators then uncovered Pieper’s chilling last messages to a friend. 

‘There’s a creep in the stairwell’, she wrote in WhatsApp texts, describing a ‘dark figure’ she had seen as she headed inside after returning to walk her Golden Retriever, Marlow.

Those were the last words anyone received from her.

By the time the search was expanded, her ex-boyfriend had already been detained in Slovenia. 

His red Volkswagen Golf was found burned out near the Mond Casino in Šentilj, just across the border. 

When questioned, he reportedly offered no explanation for why his car was in flames.

Her mother Csilla Legenstein issued a desperate plea as the hunt intensified. 

‘My daughter has been missing since [Sunday] morning. Any helpful information will be financially rewarded. Please help me find my daughter.’