The severed hands found on the A45 motorway in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on Monday have been identified as belonging to a 32-year-old Eritrean woman registered at an asylum seeker accommodation center in Bonn, according to Hagen police.

The discovery triggered an extensive search for the woman and raised unanswered questions about how her remains ended up on a motorway far from where she was living.

The case began shortly after 3 a.m. on Monday when a female driver reported seeing unfamiliar objects on the roadway between the Olpe-Süd interchange and the Freudenberg exit. Highway patrol officers who responded found two severed human hands lying on the road. The motorway was closed while officers searched the surrounding area, but they found no crash site, no vehicle, and no additional body parts.

As WDR reported, fingerprint analysis allowed investigators to identify the hands as belonging to a 32-year-old woman of Eritrean nationality who is registered at a Bonn asylum seeker center with her three-month-old child. She had not been reported missing prior to the discovery. Police searched her accommodation but found no evidence of violence or any indication of what may have happened to her.

In a written statement, Hagen police said: “The Hagen police’s homicide unit has determined that the remains belong to a 32-year-old woman of Eritrean nationality. The woman, along with her three-month-old child, is registered as living in an asylum seeker accommodation center in Bonn. The infant is currently in official custody.

“Extensive searches for the 32-year-old woman have so far been unsuccessful, and the circumstances surrounding the crime remain unclear.”

No further details surrounding the woman, such as how long she had resided in Germany or whether she had any acquaintances of interest within the shelter or beyond, have been disclosed.

Forensic specialists are examining how the hands were severed, while investigators work to determine where the incident occurred and whether the remains may have been transported by vehicle. The location of the discovery has not yet produced any additional clues, and detectives say they currently have no confirmed crime scene.