Exactly two years ago, Danka Ilić disappeared; Every effort made to find her so far has failed

On March 26, 2024, Serbia was shaken when two-year-old Danka Ilić went missing from the yard of a barn at the end of the village of Banjsko Polje. Following her mother’s report, an extensive ten-day search for the girl began.

No results were found. Danka was not located, and on April 4, authorities announced that she had been killed.

Suspects D. D. and S. J., employees of the Public Utility Company Vodovod Bor, are accused of striking and killing two-year-old Danka with a car on March 26 and then disposing of her body at a landfill.

The suspects initially confessed to the crime, prompting the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Zaječar to open an investigation.

Meanwhile, the brother of D. D., who was suspected of assisting after the crime, died while in police custody in Bor.

D. D.’s father is accused of aiding the perpetrator after the fact and failing to report a crime.

The extensive ten-day search involved specialized rescue teams from the Emergency Situations Sector and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, using all available technical resources, including drones, helicopters, and sniffer dogs.

Authorities inspected 200 houses, 200 apartments, over 400 vehicles, 10 surveillance cameras, conducted polygraph tests on 15 individuals, and tracked 42,000 phones connected to the Bor cell tower on the day of the disappearance. Interpol was also involved in the investigation.

Unfortunately, Danka’s body has still not been found. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Zaječar filed charges against D. D. and S. J. for murder in complicity, and against R. D. for aiding after the crime and failing to report it; all three were placed in custody.

The case was sent back for review after the Appellate Court in Niš requested amendments to the indictment and returned it to the Higher Court. The Higher Court reviewed the objections and confirmed the indictment, which defense attorneys have appealed. The case now awaits a decision from the Appellate Court in Niš regarding the indictment from the Zaječar Public Prosecutor’s Office.