SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — The Latest on the rape and slaying of a Bulgarian journalist (all times local):

2 p.m.

The German government has sharply condemned the killing of a Bulgarian journalist, calling it "a brutal and dreadful murder."

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said that it's imperative "that there's a fast investigation and that this horrible event will be illuminated as comprehensively as possible."

The body of 30-year-old TV journalist Viktoria Marinova, who was brutally beaten, raped and strangled, was discovered in the town of Ruse, in northern Bulgaria, on Saturday.

Sven Giegold, a German member of the Greens in the European Parliament, said all of Europe should worry about the killing.

Giegold said, "First Malta, then Slovakia, now Bulgaria. It is unacceptable that in Europe journalists are getting killed again," referring to the killings of two other journalists in those countries.

He called on the European Parliament to quickly send a delegation to Bulgaria to help investigate the crime.

12:30 p.m.

Bulgarian police are investigating the rape and slaying of a television reporter and presenter whose body was dumped near the Danube River.

Authorities discovered the body of 30-year-old Viktoria Marinova in the town of Ruse, northern Bulgaria, on Saturday.

Police said she had been brutally beaten, raped and strangled. Her body was found in a park near the river.

Interior minister Mladen Marinov said Monday there was no evidence to suggest the killing was linked to Marinova's work. "It is about rape and murder," he said.

Bulgarian police, however, say they are working on all possible scenarios, examining possible links to both her personal and professional life.

Marinova was a director of a small local TV station and presenter of two investigative programs.