Russia Instagram influencer Ekaterina Karaglanova found dead in suitcase Published duration 30 July 2019

image copyright katti_loves_life/Instagram image caption Ekaterina Karaglanova, a graduate doctor, was a popular social media personality

A prominent Russian Instagram influencer was found dead from knife wounds on Friday in a suitcase in her rented Moscow apartment, police said.

Ekaterina Karaglanova, 24, was discovered after her family reported that she had failed to contact them for several days.

Ms Karaglanova, who had more than 85,000 followers on Instagram, had recently graduated as a doctor.

Police said they were investigating jealousy as a possible motive.

Ms Karaglanova had recently started a new relationship and had planned a holiday to The Netherlands to celebrate her birthday on 30 July, according to Russian daily Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK).

But her parents grew concerned when attempts to contact her in the days leading up to her trip had failed.

They then contacted her landlord and requested access to her apartment, where they found a suitcase containing her body in the hallway. Her father requested an ambulance, but Ms Karaglanov was reportedly already dead with a slit throat.

Police said there was no evidence that any struggle had taken place at the apartment, and no weapon was found at the scene, MK reported (in Russian)

They added that CCTV footage had captured a former boyfriend of Ms Karaglanov briefly visiting her property in the days around her disappearance, but did not say if this was being investigated further.

Ms Karaglanov regularly posted images of herself on Instagram. Her followers likened her appearance to the film star Audrey Hepburn.

In this post from March, she wrote about her plans for redecorating her flat, trips abroad and "another important activity I'm thinking about, which I'm not going to talk about for now".

Her posts also included various European locations as she travelled throughout the continent.

As well as her Instagram account, Ms Karaglanov also maintained a popular travel blog, which had thousands of subscribers.