A summary of Interpol's cases to identify 22 dead women
On August 6, 1991, the body of a woman was found in a rainwater well on the grounds of a cottage on the Attenhovendreef in Belgium. The Attenhovendreef is a rural forest road with some detached houses.
The woman’s body may have been in the well for up to two years. To this day, her identity remains unknown. The woman is believed to have been between 30 and 55 years old when she was found.
On October 14, 2001, a mushroom picker found the dead body of a woman in the bog area 'Worringer Bruch' in Cologne-Worringen, Germany.
The body had been there for at least four months, but possibly four years. It has not been possible to establish her cause of death, but a crime cannot be ruled out. The woman’s identity remains a mystery.
It is assumed that she was of mixed descent, partly African, possibly Mongolian. She had curly black hair, and her teeth were in very good condition.
On October 24, 1976, hikers found the body of a young woman hidden under soil and branches near an old car park, alongside the A12 motorway near Maarsbergen, between Utrecht and Arnhem in the Netherlands.
Police linked the case to a missing persons case from the same area. However, in 2006, the case was found to have been incorrectly linked.
It is highly likely that this young woman came from Germany. She was probably born in the late 1950s or early 1960s and grew up in the Rhine valley area, south of Cologne and Bonn.
On June 3, 1992, the body of a woman was found against a grate in the ‘Groot Schijn’ river near the Ten Eekhovelei in Belgium. The woman had been violently killed. To date, her identity is unknown.
On her left forearm, she had a tattoo of a black flower with green leaves and ‘R'NICK’ written underneath.
She wore a coloured t-shirt with the inscription ‘SPLINTER’ and dark blue Adidas tracksuit bottoms with three green stripes and dark walking shoes, size 40.
On March 16, 1986, walkers discovered the remains of a woman while walking through woodland next to the A6 motorway near the parking area "Weißer Stock" in Germany.
The body had presumably been there for months, but no longer than one year. Enquiries revealed the woman had fallen victim to a violent crime. Her identity is still unknown.
The place where the corpse was found suggests that the woman may have been killed elsewhere and was subsequently left at this deserted place in the woods.
On Christmas Day, 1990, the body of a young woman was found in the woods in Teteringen, near Breda, in the Netherlands.
Her identity remains unknown. However, it is clear she was killed and had probably been neglected and abused before her death. The body was found close to the A27 motorway near Breda, less than a 30-minute drive from the Belgian border.
When she was found, she was very thin and emaciated. The body was wrapped in several rugs and blankets.
On May 9, 1996, the body of a woman was found in a lake in Froidchapelle, Belgium, near the country’s largest dam – La Plate Taille.
The body may have been in the water for up to two years and to date, her identity remains unknown.
Her left leg was 2cm shorter than her right and she wore presumably red jeans from VOS Jeans, white socks with a red and a blue stripe and a black (left) shoe with a wide heel from CYPRES in size 37.5.
On June 2, 1997, a naked female body was found in a wooded area in Altena-Bergfeld, Germany. The victim had been raped, strangled and then set on fire.
The place where the body was found is not consistent with the place where the crime was committed so it is believed that the victim was moved from an unknown location.
The perpetrator tried hard to eliminate any chance of identification. Checks of the fingerprints taken from the victim were negative.
The victim's toenails were painted red.
On September 6, 1992, in the centre of Amsterdam, a passer-by found two hands in one of the city’s canals, at Lauriergracht.
When the canal was searched, two lower legs were found. Subsequently, a suitcase containing the torso of a female was found in the canal at Egelantiersgracht. Some days later, more body parts were found at Prinsengracht.
Forensic evidence established that all body parts belonged to the same person but her identity has not been established.
As the woman’s head was never found, it is impossible to create a facial reconstruction.
Â
On April 20, 2002, a body was found in the river Scheldt, off Linkeroever, in Belgium.
The body is believed to have been in the water for several months. The woman’s identity has always remained a mystery.
She is believed to have been 20-40 years old when she died. She was 1.63 metres tall and had a normal stature.
She was a smoker.
On July 30, 2002, a woman’s body was found in the Weser river at a marina in Germany.
The body was wrapped in sheets, a plastic sack, a fabric cover and a carpet and tied up. It was found by a recreational boat skipper who saw the 'bundle' floating in the water at the marina alerted police.
Police believe that the body had been floating in the river for about four weeks. It has not been possible to establish the cause of death, but the woman had injuries to her throat.
Her body was wrapped in a conspicuous multicoloured blanket with a red border.
On July 6, 1994, a tourist found body parts in the grass of Het Zwin, a nature conservation area linking the Netherlands and Belgium.
The body parts were discovered near the former Zwin museum, close to the border, on the Dutch side.
A day later, more body parts were found in a nearby creek. The body parts belonged to a woman who has not yet been identified.
The victim had spina bifida occulta but was probably mobile.
The river Meuse flows into Belgium from France; the first major city on the river in Belgium is Namur. On June 7, 2005, the body of a woman was found near Jambes, a borough of Namur.
The woman aged 25-40 was of medium build, had dark, medium-length wavy hair, a light complexion and her teeth were in good condition.
She may have had a scar of about 4 cm long on the right side of her face above her lip. Her appendix was surgically removed.
Â
On November 8, 1988, forest workers found the body of a woman in the ‘Spandauer Forst’ – a nature reserve northwest of Berlin.
The body was lying in a hole in the ground, which was around 40cm deep. It is believed that the hole had been opened by wild animals, possibly foxes.
The woman had been violently killed. Although she had been wearing conspicuous jewellery and had special characteristics, it has not been possible to identify her.
She was wearing mostly men’s clothing; a grey-coloured men's cotton shirt, blue cotton jeans trousers and a beige/brown men's coat made of linen at the front and jersey fabric on the back and sleeves.
On January 13, 1995, a passer-by saw a plastic package floating on the water in a creek in Amstelveen and called the police in The Netherlands.
The package turned out to contain part of the body of a woman, wrapped in a sheet. Her head, lower legs and one arm were not found.
Police have not been able to establish the woman’s identity.
The victim had two noticeable scars on her right arm: one on the upper arm from the smallpox vaccination, and one on the elbow.
She had several distinctive moles on her upper body. It is possible that the bracelet worn by the victim offers important clues for establishing her identity.
On May 31, 2009, the body of a young woman was found in the Albert Canal in Visé, near the Dutch border.
Her body may have been in the water for up to five weeks. She was violently killed and her body weighed down with two ‘Alex’ brand weights.
She had artificial nails. On both ring fingers the artificial nails were decorated with a floral pattern.
She had a surgical scar on her lower abdomen and right wrist. The wrist scar is about 10 cm long.
On July 24, 1997, the partially burnt body of a woman was found in a pit in Germany. A shovel was found near the pit.
The woman is believed to have been lying there for several days up to about two weeks. It was not possible to establish the exact cause of her death or to identify her.
The place where the body of the woman was found is in the extreme south of Germany, close to the French and Swiss borders.
Â
In January 1998, a fire broke out on a small houseboat in Amsterdam. After the fire, a woman's body was found in the houseboat.
Investigations revealed she had been living under a false name and her true identity was never discovered.
It also never became clear whether the fire was an accident, or whether the woman had been killed.
The woman had eczema, and many warts around both knees.
On August 29, 2019, a passer-by discovered the partially charred skeleton of a woman in a public park in Liège, Belgium. The remains were discovered in vegetation near a pathway in the park. The woman’s identity is still unknown.
She was between 35-45, and had a very dark complexion. She is presumed to be of African descent. Her long black hair was braided, and her teeth were in good condition.
Â
On September 17, 1999, police found a woman's body in an industrial waste container floating in the river Gaasp in the Netherlands.
The body was partially encased in concrete and had been killed by gunshot.
In addition to the body, the container held men’s clothing, including a white jacket with a striking detail: a logo sewn in over a scorch mark.
The waste container also held white bags of powder laundry detergent, possibly used to add weight to the container.
The waste container for industrial use of the brand Kliko was produced in 1998.
On May 17, 2004, the captain of a tugboat found a large bag in the IJ river in Amsterdam. The bag was found to contain the lower body of a woman.
The sports bag in which the woman was found was sold by Makro in 2004 and was often included in businesses’ Christmas gift packages for their employees. A C&Q logo was printed on the bag.
Based on a hair found, it may be concluded that the woman had mid-length hair. Her appendix had been removed, and she had never given birth.
The woman suffered from chronic anaemia and serious osteoporosis.
In the Autumn of 2005, a red suitcase was seen lying in a canal in the residential neighbourhood of Schiedam, the Netherlands.
The suitcase was there for some time. A landscape contractor took it out of the water, and it was found to contain the body of a young woman.
Her body was wrapped in a white duvet cover with red/pink and blue flower pattern, and then put into a red suitcase.
The suitcase was of the brand Line and was the largest of the 4-piece Albany Trolley Set.
There was also an orange-coloured sheet in the suitcase.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
