A US tourist who was thrown to her death at Germany’s Cinderella castle has been identified as a recent university graduate from Illinois.
Eva Liu, 21, from Naperville, Illinois, died after plunging 165ft down a ravine during a day trip to the famous Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria.
Liu and her 22-year-old friend Kelsey Chang had both graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign last month.
Chang miraculously survived the alleged attack by a 30 year-old man, also a US tourist.
Eva Liu from Naperville, Illinois, was killed when she was thrown down a ravine at the world-famous Neuschwanstein Castle – said to have inspired Disney’s ‘Cinderalla’ castle
![Liu graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign last month and was on a trip with a fellow graduate](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/15/72217149-12201999-Liu_graduated_from_the_University_of_Illinois_Urbana_Champaign_l-m-3_1686926146971.jpg)
Liu graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign last month and was on a trip with a fellow graduate
![Kelsey Chang, a computer engineering graduate miraculously survived the 165-ft fall with ony minor injuries](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/15/72217241-12201999-image-a-6_1686926538640.jpg)
Kelsey Chang, a computer engineering graduate miraculously survived the 165-ft fall with ony minor injuries
A statement from the associate chancellor of the UIUC confirmed the two women had recently graduated with computer science and computer engineering degrees.
Robin Kaler described the death of Liu as ‘senseless’.
She said in a statement : ’Our University of Illinois family is mourning the senseless death of Ms. Liu and the attack on Ms Chang.
‘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.’
Kaler revealed that Liu was awarded a BS in Computer Science in May 2023 and Chang got a BS in Computer Engineering at the same time.
Policesay Liu was attacked and Chang then tried to help but she was choked by the suyspect and pushed down the slope.
The attacker then made an attempted sexual offense on the 21 year old before pushing her over.
The two women had been staying at the same hotel as their attacker, MailOnline can reveal.
Liu did not know her assailant but was on the same day trip excursion to the world famous Neuschwanstein Castle – said to have inspired Disney’s ‘Cinderalla’ castle – with a close friend.
Bavarian Police told MailOnline earlier today that Chang only suffered light injuries from the massive fall.
The alleged assailant has been held on charges of murder, attempted murder and one sexual offense. He was seen being led away from the scene in handcuffs with video taken by another tourist showing scratches on his face.
Police said he has ‘had his say in court’ after refusing to speak to investigators.
All three of the US visitors had been staying at the budget Seibel Hotel in the centre of Munich, around 50 miles away from the castle. They had travelled by coach to Neuschwanstein with other tourists.
![The two women, aged 21 and 22, met the man, 30, near the Marienbrucke bridge (pictured), a narrow footbridge that at its highest point crosses the gorge at 300 feet](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/15/13/72172713-12198677-image-a-9_1686833891885.jpg)
The two women, aged 21 and 22, met the man, 30, near the Marienbrucke bridge (pictured), a narrow footbridge that at its highest point crosses the gorge at 300 feet
![All three of the US visitors had been staying at the budget Seibel Hotel in the centre of Munich, around 50 miles away from the castle. They had travelled by coach to Neuschwanstein with other tourists](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/12/72211739-12201999-image-a-41_1686916321921.jpg)
All three of the US visitors had been staying at the budget Seibel Hotel in the centre of Munich, around 50 miles away from the castle. They had travelled by coach to Neuschwanstein with other tourists
Staff at the hotel confirmed that they had been visited by police on Wednesday afternoon hours after the alleged attack.
The two women shared a twin bed ground floor room at the £90 ($115) night hotel.
Staff identified the two women from social media photos and said they had sat together at breakfast.
The hotel manager told Mail Online the belongings of the two women had been removed from their first-floor room and put into storage.
The pair had checked into the hotel on Tuesday and travelled the 55 miles to the castle near the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchenon an organized tour.
A police source said the three US tourists had travelled to the castle together but were otherwise not known to each other.
They are not thought to be from the same US state.
The US State Department said they are aware of the incident and their consulate in Munich is monitoring the situation closely. Spokesman Matthew Miller said they were in close contact with the German authorities.
The two women met the man near the Marienbrucke bridge, a narrow footbridge that at its highest point crosses 300ft above a gorge – with a stream and waterfall underneath – and offers stunning views of the castle.
Police said the man allegedly persuaded them to follow him down a secluded trail that led to a good lookout point, where he ‘physically attacked’ the 21-year-old.
When her friend tried to intervene, he allegedly choked her and pushed her down a steep slope. Police believe ‘an attempted sexual offence’ was then committed against the 21-year-old, before she was also pushed down the slope.
She fell next to her friend some 165ft below.
The pair were airlifted away by helicopter, but the 21-year-old woman tragically died in hospital from injuries sustained in the fall.
Miraculously, her 22-year-old companion suffered only minor injuries – bruises and a laceration – and has since been able to make a statement to police.
She is expected to be released from hospital today.
The suspect fled the scene but was caught after a massive police operation involving 25 emergency vehicles.
He was taken to a police station in nearby town of Fuessen.
A witness video posted online showed a man in a T-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap being led away in handcuffs by police, while another clip showed one of the victims being airlifted out of the ravine by a mountain rescue helicopter.
The video – filmed from above the ravine – also showed officials from the German mountain rescue service down in the gorge, working to save the women.
![Chang completed an internship at Microsoft last summer and was due to start work at the software giant, she said on social media](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/15/72217147-12201999-Chang_completed_an_internship_at_Microsoft_last_summer_and_was_d-a-14_1686927185145.jpg)
Chang completed an internship at Microsoft last summer and was due to start work at the software giant, she said on social media
![Signs warn tourists in three languages not to leave the trail near the Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/16/72218731-12201999-image-a-22_1686928391395.jpg)
Signs warn tourists in three languages not to leave the trail near the Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria
![Tourists continued to flock to the castle on Friday despite the horrific death of recent University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate Eva Liu](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/16/72218795-12201999-image-a-23_1686928476800.jpg)
Tourists continued to flock to the castle on Friday despite the horrific death of recent University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate Eva Liu
![A 21-year-old was 'physically attacked' before she was pushed down the slope](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/15/72174877-12201999-A_21_year_old_was_physically_attacked_before_she_was_pushed_down-a-10_1686926820111.jpg)
![Her 22-year-old friend tried to fight off the attacker before she too was pushed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/15/72174879-12201999-Her_22_year_old_friend_tried_to_fight_off_the_attacker_before_sh-a-11_1686926820112.jpg)
A helicopter and rescue workers are seen at the ravine on Wednesday, where two women were reportedly pushed down by a man in a shocking attack
A spokesman for Bavarian police said: ‘We couldn’t verify yet which US state the suspect is from. Inquiries are still ongoing via German and American authorities.
‘The suspect didn’t make any comments to police but in his hearing in court yesterday he did have his say in regards to remaining in custody. We don’t want to say exactly what he said, however,’ he told MailOnline.
Under German law, suspects must be brought before a judge at a closed-doors hearing by the end of the calendar day after their arrest if investigators intend to keep them in custody.
Police said a judge in nearby Kempten on Thursday ordered him held pending a potential indictment and he was taken to jail.
Meanwhile, police are searching for video footage of the incident. As of 8am this morning, they said they had received a dozen submissions from visitors and that investigators would being scouring through it today for any new information.
The officials said they hoped the international coverage of the shocking attack would result in more people coming forward, as many of the people who visit the bridge are tourists from abroad.
‘We are looking for photographs which, by chance, show two young women and a man (approximately 30 years old) who were staying east of the Marienbruecke,’ Kempten police said on their website.
‘These persons may have been walking together or separately.’
The motive for the attack is still unclear, while all parties remain unnamed.
![A US man hurled two female American tourists 165ft down a ravine near a world famous German castle – killing one after he sexually assaulted her and her companion tried to fight him off, reports have claimed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/14/72172711-12201999-A_US_man_hurled_two_female_American_tourists_165ft_down_a_ravine-a-3_1686921403345.jpg)
A US man hurled two female American tourists 165ft down a ravine near a world famous German castle – killing one after he sexually assaulted her and her companion tried to fight him off, reports have claimed
![The suspect fled the scene, but was caught after a massive police operation involving 25 emergency vehicles on Wednesday afternoon and taken to a police station in nearby Fuessen](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/08/72203233-12198677-The_suspect_fled_the_scene_but_was_caught_after_a_massive_police-a-5_1686899719929.jpg)
![A witness video posted online showed a man in a T-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap being led away in handcuffs by police](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/16/08/72203229-12198677-The_suspect_fled_the_scene_but_was_caught_after_a_massive_police-m-7_1686899729030.jpg)
The suspect fled the scene, but was caught after a massive police operation involving 25 emergency vehicles on Wednesday afternoon and taken to a police station in nearby Fuessen. A witness video posted online showed a man in a T-shirt, jeans and a baseball cap being led away in handcuffs by police
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/15/14/72173873-12198677-image-a-18_1686835560945.jpg)
Criminal police have taken over the investigation into attempted murder and murder, as well as a sexual offence, with the current focus on reconstructing exactly how the incident took place, police said.
Police have created a tip line for witnesses to submit other footage or leads and until this morning, they received a dozen submissions, according to a spokesman.
Local police spokesman Holger Stabik told MailOnline they had received a dozen photos and video from other sightseers. Up to 6,000 people a day visit the castle.
‘We are just going to see what comes up and meanwhile we are still looking for footage. Other than that, we have announced that the suspect is a US citizen and we are, right at the moment, talking to the consulate.
‘Right now we don’t have a proper address for the suspect. There is, of course an address noted, but we can’t yet tell for sure where it originates from, so all of this is going to the US authorities right at the moment, so that they can check it out.
‘Furthermore, the suspect was of course interviewed and he didn’t tell anything to the police, but in front of the judge he then did but in terms of the content.’
He said the investigation could take several weeks or months and the suspect can be held for up to six months before he must be charged or released.
‘What is missing now and what’s going to happen within the next few weeks and months is that we are going to collect together all the stuff that we have, the evidence, and evaluate it forensically.
‘And this is going to take some time,’ said the spokesman.
A man who witnessed the aftermath of the incident told MailOnline that he saw a man ‘with a bloodied face’ being led away from the attraction in handcuffs.
Eric Abneri, a 21-year-old tourist from New York, said he and his friends arrived at the castle on Wednesday afternoon when they heard the sound of a helicopter above.
![According to police, the women encountered the 30-year-old American tourist on a trail on or near the Marienbrucke bridge, which is hugely popular as it offers a view of the 19th century Neuschwanstein castle – which sees around 1.4million visitors per year](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/15/13/72172005-12198677-image-a-8_1686832470905.jpg)
According to police, the women encountered the 30-year-old American tourist on a trail on or near the Marienbrucke bridge, which is hugely popular as it offers a view of the 19th century Neuschwanstein castle – which sees around 1.4million visitors per year
Mr Abneri filmed the footage of the helicopter and the man being led away.
‘We saw two or three men repelling [into the ravine] and were confused, until I noticed the woman in blue who we thought fell.
‘They rescued the woman. I’m unsure of who lived and the helicopter flew away, then came back for the other rescuers. Shortly after we went back to see the bridge and it was closed with a police presence.’
Mr Abneri said there was a large police presence at the scene. ‘We waited and a man with a bloodied face came out in handcuffs,’ he said.
Speaking later to the Associated Press, Mr Abneri – a recent business graduate from the University of Pittsburgh – said the man appeared to have scratches across his face.
‘He did not say a single word. He didn’t open his mouth; he didn’t mumble,’ Mr Abneri said. ‘He just walked with the police and that was it.’
He also praised the rescuers for their efforts. ‘I’m honestly absolutely stunned someone is still alive from this. It is like falling from the top of an absolute cliff.’
Mr Abneri described it as ‘a very, very difficult rescue because of those cliffs and because the helicopter came mere feet above the tree line at the top of the hill’.
‘They did an unbelievable job,’ he said.
Police were seen interviewing witnesses to the attack ‘who looked shook up,’ he added, saying that the bridge was later reopened to the public.
The building of Neuschwanstein Castle was completed in 1886 after almost 20 years. It is located in the Swabia region of Bavaria, close to Alps and the Austrian border.
Its construction was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who wanted a holiday home to escape to from the Bavarian capital of Munich.
He paid for the castle out of his personal fortune and through extensive borrowing, but he never saw it completed. He died in 1886, shortly before it opened.
Since then, more than 61million people have visited it.
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