The Murder of Alice Gross

Alice Poppy Madeleine Gross was a 14-year-old schoolgirl from Hanwell, London. Described as lively and witty, Alice was a talented singer, musician and composer. On 28th August 2014, Alice left her home at around 1 pm after telling her mother she would be home by 6 pm. CCTV captured her walking along the Grand Union Canal towpath, the last recording is of her at 4.26 pm walking back towards her home. When Alice did not return home by 7 pm, her family reported her as missing. The search for Alice was the largest since the 7th July 2005 London bombings. On 4th September, police released CCTV footage of Alice the last time she was seen and revealed her rucksack had been found with the shoes she was wearing inside. Authorities also later released pictures of cyclists who rode past the place Alice was last seen in an attempt to identify them and get more information. Two men were arrested in connection with the murder but were later released without charge. On 16th September, detectives announced they were looking for 41-year-old Latvian builder Arnis Zalkalns who was known to travel to work along a similar route to the one Alice took on the day she vanished. Zalkalns had not been seen since 3rd September and had also been reported missing. On 30th September, search teams found Alice’s body in the River Brent. The body was tied into the foetal position, was naked except for one sock and had been weighted down with bricks, logs and a bicycle wheel in an effort to conceal it. The pathologist concluded that Alice had been sexually assaulted and asphyxiated, probably by a larger person pressing down on her torso. Zalkalns’ DNA was found on Alice’s body, shoes, the bin liners used the wrap the body and a cigarette butt found nearby. An iPhone cover that matched Alice’s, which she had coloured in herself, was found hidden in Zalkaln’s garden. On 4th October, Zalkalns’ body was found in a wooded area, the cause of death was suicide by hanging. Zalkalns had a previous conviction for murdering his wife in his home country, Latvia. He had also been arrested for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl two miles away from where Alice was killed but the case was dropped when the victim was unable to testify. CCTV footage showed that Zalkalns would have passed Alice on the towpath and had stopped for about 80 minutes when he reappeared on camera his trouser legs were rolled up, and he appeared to have been in the water. CCTV footage then shows him buying beer before cycling on a different bike to the area where Alice was last seen. Zalkalns returned to the location two times and had searched for information about the case online. Police revealed that charges for the murder of Alice Gross would have been brought against Arnis Zalkalns had he lived. It is suspected that Zalkalns killed Alice in a sexually motivated attack. A youth memorial fund set up in Alice’s memory continues to raise money as of 2021, it has raised over £80,000.

vampives

Witches going to their Sabbath (1878), by Luis Ricardo Falero

decisiontoleave

Rose Byrne & Heath Ledger photographed by Rupert Thorpe, 1999.

babysarocknroller

tekweela

pariztexas-deactivated20210721

This Means War (2012) dir. McG

paratrooper56

Tom Hardy’s labrador Woodstock (Woody) at the film premiere of Legend, September 2015.

Woody was six years old, and is believed to have died from polymyositis.

“To the bestest friend ever… he burnt very bright and those that burn very bright sometimes burn half as long. The world for me was a better place with him in it and by my side.”