Operation Identify Me
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Operation Identify Me was launched on 10 May 2023 by
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
to solve
cold case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or re ...
s across
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
to identify 22 unidentified women who were found deceased in the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
between 1976 and 2019. Most of the women were murdered, and have never been identified. A public appeal was made for information surrounding the unidentified women. Interpol alongside Dutch, German, and Belgian police forces released
forensic facial reconstructions Forensic facial reconstruction (or forensic facial approximation) is the process of recreating the face of an individual (whose identity is often not known) from their skeletal remains through an amalgamation of artistry, anthropology, osteol ...
as well as other information used in the investigations. It is believed some of the murdered women may be from parts of
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
.


Cases

The murder cases span five decades. The bodies were discovered between October 1976 and August 2019. Their average ages range from 15 to 30. Most of the women suffered violent deaths.


Further inquiries

On 16 May 2023, it was reported that police had received over 200 tip-offs regarding the cases, with 122 tips from Germany, 55 from Belgium and 51 from the Netherlands, some of them with names. Near the end of August, the number of tips had increased to over 500. By November police said they had received about 1,250 tips. On August 29, 2023, Interpol made a public appeal on the identification of an unidentified dead boy in
Großmehring Großmehring is a municipality in the district of Eichstätt in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...
,
Bavaria, Germany Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. While the unknown dead child was not officially added in Operation Identify Me, he was part of an effort to publicly request tips for unidentified decedents. In November 2023, "the woman with the flower tattoo" was named as British woman Rita Roberts. Roberts was 31 years old when she moved from
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
to
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
in February 1992 but was reported missing months later. Due to the publicization of the case, a member of her family in Britain recognised the tattoo and contacted the Belgian authorities to formally identify the body.


See also

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Body identification Body identification is a subfield of forensic science that uses a variety of scientific and non-scientific methods to identify a body. Forensic purposes are served by rigorous scientific forensic identification techniques, but these are generally ...
*
John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are often ...
*
DNA Doe Project DNA Doe Project (also DNA Doe Project, Inc. or DDP) is an American nonprofit volunteer organization formed to identify unidentified deceased persons (commonly known as John Doe or Jane Doe) using forensic genealogy. Volunteers identify victims ...
*
Disaster Victim Identification Disaster victim identification (DVI) is the process of identifying the remains of people who have died in a mass fatality incident such as a plane crash or bomb blast. The process can be time-consuming to avoid mis-identification. Techniques includ ...
*
The Gentleman of Heligoland The Gentleman of Heligoland is the nickname of an unidentified decedent whose body was found in the waters off Heligoland in 1994. His body showed signs of having been beaten and his death is a suspected case of murder. Another name for the unide ...
is a case looked at amongst many by Locate International. *
Operation Captura Operation Captura is a multi-agency operation to detain criminals wanted by UK law enforcement who are hiding in Spain. In particular, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers launch appeals—the ninth was launched ...
, another multi-country appeal for citizen crime assistance. *
The Vanished (podcast) ''The Vanished'' is a weekly podcast that focuses on the stories and circumstances of missing people, hosted by Marissa Jones. Most episodes feature interviews with the friends and family of the missing person, and sometimes the local law enforce ...
*
Vidocq Society The Vidocq Society is a members-only crime-solving club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, ...


References

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External links


Operation Identify Me
Interpol Murder investigation 2023 establishments in Europe Women in Europe Violence against women in Europe Death of women History of women in the Netherlands History of women in Germany History of women in Belgium Unidentified murder victims Unsolved crimes in Europe Unsolved murders in Europe Unsolved murders in Belgium Unsolved murders in Germany Unsolved murders in the Netherlands