The "female partner" of the first officer believed responsible for the crash of Germanwings Flight 4U9525 has been questioned by police, officials told NBC News on Monday.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office in Dusseldorf would not confirm the woman's name.
The news comes a day after Germany's leading newspaper, Die Welt, reported 27-year-old first officer Andreas Lubitz was suffering from a "psychosomatic" illness. The report, which NBC News was not able to confirm, said police found prescription medication in searches of Lubitz's home.
Last week investigators confirmed that these searches yielded torn-up doctor's notes, including one that excused him from work on the day of the crash.
The questioning of Lubitz's partner came as part of a special "commission" that has been set up to investigate the case. The commission — which has the temporary name "Alpen" (meaning "Alps" in German) — was established to question family and friends and to secure evidence to identify victims, a spokesperson for the police in Duesseldorf told NBC News on Monday.
The commission includes around 100 officers from various departments of police in the German state of North Rhein-Westphalia, the police spokesperson added.
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— Andy Eckardt and Alexander Smith
