“The Woman in Pink,” “The Introvert,” or “The Globetrotter.” These are the names law enforcement has given to women who were victims of suspicious deaths. But what are their real names? Interpol is calling on the public to help identify 46 women who were killed or died under suspicious circumstances. Their identities have remained unknown for up to 50 years in six European countries.
Restoring their names, like Rita’s
A tattoo, a necklace, or a physical characteristic—this is all the authorities have to identify the victims. But a necklace doesn’t give a name. Interpol is publishing investigative details on its website to restore the names of these anonymous women. “The smallest piece of information can be decisive and shed light on these mysteries,” said Jürgen Stock, Interpol’s Secretary-General, in a statement. “Whether it’s a memory, a tip, or an anecdote, sometimes the tiniest detail can reveal the truth,” he added, hoping to “bring answers to their families and achieve justice.”
In May 2023, Interpol launched the groundbreaking campaign “Identify Me.” The goal of this campaign is to restore the identities of 22 women found in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands since the 1970s. This first campaign succeeded in identifying Rita Roberts, a 31-year-old British woman who had been found in Antwerp over 30 years earlier. Her family recognized her flower tattoo in the documents Interpol published online. This sharing of information allowed investigators to confirm her identity and gave her family a chance to grieve.
Following this success, the organization decided to expand the initiative to other unsolved cases. To help solve and close these so-called “cold cases,” they added three more countries to the investigation: France, Spain, and Italy.
Seemingly ordinary women
Interpol has released excerpts from their “black notices,” alerts typically reserved for law enforcement, to seek public assistance. Among these cases is “the woman with butterfly tattoos,” found in the Seine in 2016, and “the pregnant woman with garnet necklaces,” discovered in a forest in Burgundy in 2001. For each victim, Interpol provides a facial reconstruction, details of where and how the bodies were found, and photos of clothing or jewelry discovered at the scene.
In France, seven of these women were found between 1982 and 2021. One was discovered beneath a cliff near Villefranche-sur-Mer in March 2008, between 60 and 75 years old. On her left ring finger, she wore a ring engraved with “Jean and Nelly, 25.06.1960.” Another, found in the Seine in 2016, had numerous tattoos, including butterflies on her hips, left ankle, inside her wrist, and upper right arm. Investigators were intrigued by a 100-venezuelan bolívar note found in her pocket.
In Belgium, six cases stood out, including that of “the woman with the cane,” aged 60 to 80, found in the Meuse River in Liège in 2010. Another woman was discovered in the port of Ostend in 2022, wearing a T-shirt with the inscription “Ibiza.”
An international identification campaign
The initiative gained media attention with the support of public figures. In a campaign video, singer Axelle Red and actress Carice van Houten urged the public: “Look at these women… could they be your friend, your cousin, your colleague, your patient, your neighbor who suddenly disappeared?” They encouraged everyone to take action: “You can help them. Restore their identity.”
In France, athlete Marie-José Pérec and actress-writer Sarah Biasini have become ambassadors of this campaign, helping raise public awareness and encouraging participation to solve these unresolved cases.
Interpol continues to appeal to anyone who might recognize a detail, a memory, or a story that could unlock these investigations. Every contribution could potentially restore the names of these missing women, offer them posthumous recognition, and bring a little peace to their families, who have been seeking answers for decades.
With this expanded campaign, Interpol hopes not only to solve these cases but also to remind us of the importance of international solidarity in the pursuit of justice. Investigators rely on collective memory and new technologies to solve the mysteries surrounding these women, whose stories, though silent, are still waiting to be told.