Interpol asks the public to help solve a new missing woman case

A pair of red shoes, two beaded necklaces and a British 10p coin are among the few clues that could help identify a teenage girl found murdered in more western France 40 years ago.

Her death is one of 46 mysterious cases that European police are trying to solve in the second phase of an operation to find the names of unidentified murdered women.

BBC coverage of the appeal last year helped identify a British woman some 30 years after her murder.

Jürgen Stock, secretary general of Interpol, the agency coordinating the effort, said in a statement Tuesday: “We want to identify the dead women, bring answers to the families and bring justice to the victims.”

“Whether it’s a memory, a piece of advice, or a story shared, the smallest detail can help uncover the truth.”

The second phase of Operation Identity Me includes cases in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy and Spain.

Details of each have been published on Interpol’s website, along with photos of the items that enable facial recognition and reconstruction.

Most of the victims are believed to be between 15 and 30 years old.

The body of a teenager with red shoes, a beaded necklace and a 10-cent piece was found under leaves in a neighborhood near a village called Le Cellier in 1982. The body had been there for several years. month.

Speaking near the area where she was found, now overgrown with brambles, nettles and horse chestnut trees, detective Franc Dannerrolle said the girl’s body “was thrown away like rubbish”.

He added: “There was no respect, no care for her before she passed away.

The 10p coin led investigators to believe she was British or had traveled in England before her murder, although they admitted she may have found it or been given it.

Police chose not to go into detail about the nature of her murder to avoid a “false perpetrator” claiming responsibility.

Unfortunately, the teenager’s remains were no longer found, which further complicated the task of investigators of the cold case.

“If we find them, we can study her DNA to get a link to the family,” Det Dannerrolle said.

Retired detective Alain Brillet investigated the case at the time and described it as a “triple mystery”.

“The strangest and most unbelievable thing is that we had someone who was murdered, because we knew she was murdered, but we could never find out what her name was, where she came from. where or who killed her,” he said. .

The BBC found a woman who recalled the fear of discovering her body in the village, but because the victim was not local, most people forgot about it and walked away.

The launch of the Identify Me campaign last year marked the first time Interpol made public a list of so-called “black notices,” seeking information about unidentified bodies. Such notices were previously only circulated internally within Interpol’s network of police forces.

Dr Susan Hitchin, coordinator of Interpol’s DNA unit, said that across Europe, ease of movement due to open borders, increased global migration and human trafficking had resulted in many people being reported missing. outside their homeland.

“These women have suffered double injustice. They were victimized twice: they were killed in an act of violence and they were denied their names when they died,” she said.

Interpol is using targeted social media to promote the campaign in specific locations and demographic groups. The global police force has also asked celebrities to speak out on behalf of unidentified women.

Another case that Interpol is hoping people can help solve is the case of a woman’s body discovered in Wassenaar, Netherlands about two decades ago.

The discovery is the first of its kind by Dutch forensic investigator Sandra Baasbank. She remembered seeing the woman lying face down on the dune, with no obvious signs of injury or struggle.

Det Baasbank said the woman was wearing brown striped leggings and shiny red patent shoes – “unusual if you’re planning on walking on the beach”.

“She is very healthy and athletic. Wear a headband and sunglasses. Her buttons were done and she was wearing a scarf,” the detective added.

Forensic analysis showed that this woman was born in Eastern Europe and spent the last five years of her life in Western Europe.

One of the keys she carried was of German origin.

“She probably helped me get better at what I do. ‘Never give up’ is my motto. I am determined in the work I do and perhaps she is the reason why,” said Det Baasbank.

She hopes that the new Identify Me campaign will help attract some new leads and provide some form of closure.

And there is reason for her optimism.

Rita Roberts, a British woman murdered in Belgium, was identified when her family discovered her distinctive black rose tattoo in a BBC report based on the first appeal.

The last contact her family had with her was via a postcard in May 1992. Her body was found the following month.

When her family learned the body was indeed Rita, her sister Donna said she “sobbed”. For them, it ended decades of unrest.

Although learning about her sister’s death was difficult, she said she took comfort in feeling that Rita was “at peace.”

Now that she has been identified, her family is appealing to the public for any information, no matter how small, to aid the investigation.

And they hope that other murdered women will also be identified.

They were “sisters, mothers, aunts,” Donna said. “Just because they don’t have names, don’t assume they aren’t people.”

Additional reporting by Léontine Gallois