• Maria Ladenburger, 19, was found in a river in Freiburg, Germany
• Police have arrested a teenage immigrant who only arrived in the country a year ago

Article Tom Gillespie and Alan Hall

A TEENAGE Afghan immigrant has confessed to murdering a refugee centre volunteer who was raped and killed while cycling home from a party, German police have said.

Maria Ladenburger, the daughter of a senior EU official, was drowned in a river in the city of Freiburg near Germany’s border with Switzerland.

Maria was on her way home in the early hours of the morning before she was raped and drowned in a river

Maria, centre, was killed on October 16 this year

The medical student was the daughter of Dr Clemens Ladenburger, a lawyer who assists the legal director of the European Commission.

Maria helped out at a refugee centre in her spare time but is unclear if she was known to her alleged murderer.

The teenager was snatched from her bike and raped before she was drowned in the River Dreisam on October 16.

A 17-year-old Afghan refugee was arrested on Friday and will go before the courts next year.

He has confessed to murder but can still change his plea, and it is unclear if he has confessed to rape.

After Maria’s body was discovered, cops searched a bush nearby and found an 18.5cm-long strand of black hair that had partially been dyed blonde.

Maria’s scarf was found at the bottom of a riverbed.

When DNA from the hair and scarf were checked by police they found no matches.

Cops later checked CCTV and saw a 17-year-old on a local tram who had long black hair dyed partially blonde – similar to that of the one found in the bush.

When officers brought him in and checked his DNA they found it matched the samples from the crime scene.

Officers are investigating if he is responsible for the rape and murder of another woman in Endinge, 18 miles away from Freiburg, at the beginning of November.

There is no DNA evidence for officers to go on.

Maria was the daughter of EU official Dr Clemens Ladenburger

Maria was a promising medical student in Germany before she was brutally murdered

Mr Ladenburger and his wife Frederika placed a memorial notice for Maria in a local paper.

It read: “Maria was for 19 years a singular ray of sunshine for our family, and that she will remain.

“We thank God for this gift, that he made you with us. We are sure that she is safe with him.”

Public prosecutor Dieter Inhofer said the teen suspect was living with a family in Freiburg and had committed no crimes since his arrival in Germany.

David Müller, head of the police Special Commission, said in a press conference: “Through interviews and a web-based survey, we were able to reconstruct Maria’s final hours.

“The 19-year-old student had been at a party.

“By 2.37am she left the party, Maria then cycled home as usual.

“The young woman had been the victim of a sexual offence and a violent crime.”

The arrest of the Afghan refugee comes against rising anger against Angela Merkel’s perceived “open-door refugee policy”.

A Syrian family named their child “Angela Merkel”in honour of her policy after being allowed into Germany.

Their asylum application was later rejected.

Read more at: thesun.co.uk