The missing Latvian Killer's brother has revealed that he was recently depressed after plans to move his children to the UK collapsed.
Arnis Zalkalns, 41, who vanished from his home in Ealing, West London, on September 3, is being hunted over 14-year-old Alice Gross’ disappearance on August 28.
Police have come under fire for their painfully slow response in connecting the disappearance of the wife killer with the missing school girl; despite the Latvian being reported missing a week after Alice from the same spot.
Due to EU European treaty rights and Britain's open boarders Mr Zalkalns entered the country unhindered and police had no idea about his past.
Speaking to the Mirror , his older brother Janis Daksa, 43, said: “In the last few weeks he was finding it especially hard because he loves his children and he was stressed and depressed when his children couldn’t go over to London at the start of September.
“He wanted them to live with him in London and it was planned for them to go over to the UK.
“I haven’t asked my sister exactly what happened because of everything with Arnis going missing.
"He really wanted to get his kids over to England then it never happened. I don’t know if this is why he went missing.”
Zalkalns, who was jailed for seven years for murdering his wife, has a daughter, nine, and a son, aged seven, who both live in Liepaja, Latvia, with his ex-partner.
Today police pulled a six-inch knife from the Grand Union Canal, near to where Alice vanished, but the Met refused to comment on the find.
Alice was last seen walking along the towpath towards her home in Hanwell, West London. Zalkalns was caught on CCTV riding his bike nearby.
But Janis, of Stockholm, Sweden, spoke of his anger that police were treating his brother “as if he is a murderer”.
He said: “Nothing’s been proven, yet he is being treated like he is already guilty.”
Asked about convicted killer Zalkalns’ dark past, Janis said: “Despite the past, he is my brother and he will always be my brother, not matter what he did or has done.”
Janis insisted that if his brother was involved in the disappearance of Alice then he would give himself up.
He said: “He handed himself in once before and co-operated with police. I don’t think that he’s guilty.”
Interpol said it had “no convincing information” that Zalkalns “either is or isn’t in Latvia”.
