The father of a woman who was reportedly killed by her own husband found his own daughter's severed head in a bin bag, according to a family friend.

Kristina Joksimovic, who was a finalist in the Miss Switzerland competition in 2008, went on to get married and have two young daughters. The 38-year-old also ran a business training aspiring catwalk models to follow in her footsteps. She was found dead earlier this year, with her husband the chief suspect in her murder.

Her remains were discovered in Binningen, near Basel, Switzerland in February. Her body is alleged to have been chopped up with a hand blender, 'pureed', then dissolved in chemicals by her husband. Now a family friend has said it was her own father who discovered his daughter's decapitated head, after he spotted her blonde hair sticking out of a bin liner in the laundry room of her large home.

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A family friend, who said she has known Kristina's parents for years, told the DailyMail: "When he opened the black bin bag, he saw her cut off head with the hair still attached." He had been having dinner with his son-in-law, who at the time, said he had no idea where his wife was.

Her parents became suspicious when they got a call from their granddaughters' kindergarten, asking them to pick up the kids when their daughter failed to arrive. When dropping them off at their home, her husband Marc claimed he did not know where Kristina was and offered her father something to drink.

The friend said: "For hours, he pretended as if nothing was wrong, chatting to her father and making dinner for everyone before tucking the children into their beds. Her father went to pick up her mother and returned to the house. Marc kept insisting he didn't know where Kristina was and claimed she would just leave sometimes." The dad searched the home, while Kristina's mother kept Marc talking and eventually made the horrific discovery in a basement, used as a laundry room. Her husband is set to go on trial at a later date.

Kristina Joksimovic, 38, won the title of Miss Northwest Switzerland in a regional beauty contest back in 2003, before reaching the final finals of the Miss Switzerland pageant in 2008. She went on to be a mother of two young children and carved out a career mentoring aspiring catwalk models.

Shocked tributes have poured in from her friends and former students since her death. Lorena Santen, who was crowned Miss Switzerland in 2023, said: "We will miss you so much.'" Speaking not long after her death, former Miss Switzerland Christa Rigozzi said: "It's terrible. I'm really shocked. I'm thinking of her two daughters. She was such a beautiful and kind-hearted woman. It is very, very sad and shocking what has happened. I am also so incredibly sorry for the children."