A man has been arrested in connection to the incident (Picture: PA)
An American man promised two tourists ‘romantic views’ of a ‘Cinderella castle’ in Germany before allegedly pushing them both off a ravine.
Eva Liu, 21, a University of Illinois graduate from Naperville, was on a trip with her college friend 22-year-old Kelsey Chang in Bavaria last week.
The graduates went on a hike on June 14 near one of Germany’s most popular tourist sights, Neuschwanstein Castle, when they met an American man, 30.
He persuaded them to go to a beaten dirt path near the Marienbrücke Bridge, famed for its view of the castle, Bavaria Police said.
According to the German tabloid Bild, the man had ‘promised to show them a particularly romantic view of the Cinderella castle’.
But after luring them away, the man ‘physically attacked’ Liu, state police said.
Eva Liu and Kelsey Chang were both pushed off the slope, police said (Picture: Instagram/Linkedin)
Witness footage showed the man being escorted away by police (Picture: PA)
The force said that it believes the alleged attacker made an ‘attempted sexual offence’ on Liu before pushing her down a 164ft slope.
Chang tried to intervene, only for the man to choke her ‘and then push her down a steep slope in the direction of Pöllat’, a narrow gorge east of Alpsee Lake.
‘She came to rest next to her friend,’ police said.
Both women were recovered by Füssen mountain rescuers.
Liu was flown to a hospital with serious injuries and later died, while Chang was taken to hospital and discharged on June 17 after suffering cuts and bruises.
She suffered only minor injuries after tree branches broke her fall.
The man has not been formally identified by the authorities. Local media reported that he was from Lincoln Park, Michigan, and had travelled to Germany earlier this month.
He had been staying at a guesthouse in Oberstdorf, a skiing town in the Allgäu of the Bavarian Alps.
The graduates had been hiking to see the Neuschwanstein Castle (Picture: Shutterstock / canadastock)
The 30-year-old man met the two women on a hiking path and lured them away with the promise of ‘romantic views’, a tabloid claimed (Picture: AP)
After the crime, he fled the scene on foot but was arrested, with witness footage showing him being led away by officers.
Police are investigating charges of murder, attempted murder and a sexual offence. Prosecutors say that the suspect will not be extradited until after the German investigation is complete.
It is unclear whether German authorities have been in contact with their American counterparts.
Liu and Chang, Bild reported, were on a cross-country tour of Europe and had checked into a hotel by Theresienwiese, Munich, on June 13.
They were set to leave Munich on June 16.
Robin Kaler, the Associate Chancellor at the University of Illinois, said Liu and Chang graduated with computer science and computer engineering degrees in May.
‘Both had just graduated in May and should have been able to celebrate such an important accomplishment without the fear of such a tragic outcome,’ he told NBC Chicago.
‘Our thoughts are with Ms Chang as she recovers and with both of their families as they grieve.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted the US Department of State and the US Embassy in Berlin for comment.
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Eva Liu and Kelsey Chang were both pushed off the slope.