International appeal for the identification of 46 deceased women

A list of all the Dutch cases in the Identify Me campaign can be found here. All cases can be found on the Interpol website.

The key to the identification of unknown deceased persons often lies with relatives abroad. This is why the Netherlands developed the Identify Me campaign. During the first edition of Identity Me, the Netherlands Police joined forces with the police in Belgium and Germany. In collaboration with INTERPOL, 22 cases were presented to the public in May 2023. Well-known women from the participating countries, including actress Carice van Houten and singer S10, asked attention for the cases in a campaign video. A woman who had been found murdered in Antwerp in 1992 was identified by her relatives in the United Kingdom, who recognized her tattoo soon after the campaign was launched. She turned out to be 31-year-old Rita Roberts. Relatives of Rita Roberts support the new campaign. Rita's sister Donna states in an online video: "If it wasn't for this first campaign, I would never have found Rita and she would have been lost forever. There are so many unidentified bodies around the world, and we need to reunite them with their families.  It's important for these things to be out in the public, so that the public can help. This is information that needs to be shared."

Because of its success, the Netherlands has transferred the management of Identify Me to INTERPOL, which has now organized a second campaign. In addition to the three original countries, Italy, France, and Spain now participate too. In total, these six countries present 46 cases to the international public. The Netherlands has added two cases, which means the list now includes 11 women who were found in the Netherlands. All the Dutch participating cases can be found here. Again, well-known women from the participating countries will act as the face of the campaign and, on behalf of the victims, appeal to the public to think along and provide information.

Dutch connections
The 36 cases from the other participating countries include cases that may have a connection with the Netherlands. For instance, the body of a girl who was found in a river in the Frankfurt area in Germany had been weighed down with a parasol base manufactured in the Netherlands. Two of the women who were found in Belgium were discovered near the Dutch border. Near the Spanish city of Girona, the body was found of a woman who the Spanish police think may have come from the Netherlands, Germany, or Poland. And in Villefranche sur Mer in France, a woman was found with a hip prosthesis of a type that was also placed in the Netherlands. The woman wore a ring with the inscription Jean & Nelly 1960. The police ask everyone who has lost sight of someone in the past to look at the INTERPOL list and check whether they know any of the deceased women. Any information is welcome.

IFamilia
Where possible, the DNA of the women has been included in INTERPOL’s IFamilia database. In this unique international database, the DNA of relatives of missing persons can be compared with the DNA of unknown deceased persons. The participating countries have also mutually exchanged information about the cases included in the campaign, but this has not yet produced any matches.

The woman with the German keys
For the new campaign, the Netherlands has added two cases to the Identify Me list. Case NL10 involves a woman who was found in the Wassenaarse Slag dune area in Wassenaar on 4 July 2004. For over 20 years now it has been unclear who she is and how she ended up in the dune area. It is also unclear how she died. Fortunately, there are specific characteristics that, with help of the public, will hopefully lead to the discovery of her name. What stands out, for instance, is that she was in possession of keys that were ordered by and delivered to a company in Bottrop, Germany. Unfortunately, it was impossible to retrieve who exactly ordered the keys, but this may be an indication that the woman came from Germany. In addition, isotope analysis shows that the woman spent the last five years of her life in Germany or the Netherlands. Another thing that stands out is that the woman was wearing a watch of an animal feed brand depicting a cat. A photograph of the victim’s face is available. To be able to show her face in a more accessible manner, a police artist has made a postmortem drawing that shows the woman as she may have looked when she was alive.

The woman with the Belgian connection
The eleventh Dutch case with code NL11 involves a woman who was found near the river Meuse in the Dutch province of Limburg on 6 January 2013. She was probably taken along by the river from the direction of Belgium and ended up on the bank of the Meuse near the Pietersplas inlet in the Netherlands. Because she presumably had been in the water for a long time, it was no longer possible to establish what she looked like. An image based on a scan of her skull does give an impression of what she may have looked like, but she may have looked very differently. More important is her jewellery. She wore notable rings, including one of the brand Clio Blue with a charm of a small fish. At the time, this ring was frequently sold in Liege, Belgium. Although a cause of death could not be established, it is likely that a crime was involved. This is because a DNA match was found with blood traces from another Belgian criminal investigation. Unfortunately, this match did not lead to the identity of the victim.

Tip offs
Anyone who has information about the possible identity of one of the women is requested to contact the police. Each case on the list has a contact form which can be used to contact the police. It's also possible to share information on the INTERPOL website. The tip off will be forwarded automatically to the police of the country where the woman was found.