Near Antwerp’s main arena, close to the city’s docklands, flows the Groot Schijn River. It was here, in June 1992, that the body of Rita Roberts was found, caught against the grate of a water treatment plant.
She appeared to have been murdered, but Belgian police could not identify her. Their only clue was a tattoo on her left arm: a black rose with green leaves and initials.
Without knowing her name, police had few leads on who might have killed Roberts. Her case remained unsolved for nearly three decades until Dutch police realized that many of their own cold cases also involved unidentified women—like Roberts—who had been murdered or died under suspicious circumstances.
They suspected many were likely foreign nationals, possibly victims of human trafficking, or had family abroad who didn’t know they were missing. Progress in these investigations, they believed, would require a cross-border approach.
Dutch police reached out to neighboring Belgian and German forces, and eventually to Interpol, about launching an international appeal for information on these cases.
That’s how Roberts’ case, and others, ended up with Susan Hitchin from the forensics team at Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon, France. In 2023, in an effort to locate family members and revive stalled investigations, Interpol launched Operation Identify Me, publishing details of dozens of women across Europe who had been murdered or died in suspicious circumstances.
Hitchin remembers the day her team received a message from Roberts’ family in the UK. They had recognized her distinctive tattoo in news reports about the appeal.
“It’s one of those messages that sends a shiver down your spine, because you can see it’s credible information—not just people trying to be helpful,” she says. “You sit up and take notice.”
Investigators have not yet solved Roberts’ murder, but her family, who had lost touch with her before she died, finally learned what happened after she moved to Antwerp at age 31.
Roberts’ case highlights the global crisis of unidentified deaths, with thousands of bodies discovered in Europe alone each year. The lack of identity makes investigating suspected murders much harder.
It’s unknown how many unidentified women are suspected murder victims—global femicide rates are not declining—but Hitchin says the 47 cases Interpol has received from national police forces are just the tip of the iceberg. She regrets that more countries have not reopened their cold cases involving unidentified women.
“These cases tend to be people who are socially excluded, poorly integrated, and who lived in isolation,” says Raphaël Prieur of the Paris police.
“When we hear from Rita Roberts’ family what it means to them, knowing that someone is looking for their loved one, it brings back the frustrations about why more countries aren’t participating and why this data sharing isn’t systematic,” Hitchin says.
“It’s incredibly frustrating. We still have situations where a body is found across a border and the two countries don’t share that data, so the person goes unidentified.”
In the case of Angelique Hendrix, a woman reported missing in 1990, it took 34 years for her remains to be identified.Her remains had yet to be identified. Her skull was discovered in 1991, only 6 miles (10km) from her home in the Netherlands, but across a river and the Belgian border. Her parents died without ever learning what happened to their daughter, because laws at the time prevented Belgium from sharing DNA data to allow a match with Interpol’s missing persons registry.
As more people relocate across borders, Hitchin emphasizes the need for systems to share data on missing persons. “We can raise awareness and reach out through law enforcement channels, but ultimately it’s up to countries to have those policies in place,” she says.
The women most likely to die anonymously are often migrants or those detached from family and society. One of the most recent cases on Interpol’s Operation Identify Me list is a woman known as FR01. Her skull and left leg bones were found in a rubbish bag on vacant land in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis in June 2021. Bone analysis indicates she was of African descent and around 20 years old.
French police believe she was murdered but have no missing persons reports or other leads to identify her. While it’s uncertain if she was a migrant, authorities hope an international appeal—including a forensic facial reconstruction—will help someone recognize her.
“Someone who has friends and family will inevitably be reported missing,” says Raphaël Prieur, head of the Paris criminal investigation department. “We don’t like to generalize, but these cases often involve people who are socially excluded, poorly integrated, and lived in isolation. That’s why it’s even more important to take care of them.”
For Hitchin, the fear of victims being forgotten and left unnamed in death is what drives her work. “Sadly, this [the killing of women by men] is not going away, but what we can do is send a message to society that we do care, that all lives are valuable, and we will do what we can to acknowledge these women, even if they have been marginalized and fallen through the cracks. We want to at least be able to give them their names back,” she adds. “We want to give them back that dignity, even in death.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about the project We want to restore their identities designed to answer questions from a general audience to those with a deeper interest
Beginner General Questions
1 What is this project about
Its a historical and forensic initiative dedicated to identifying Europes forgotten female murder victimswomen whose names and stories were lost to time often referred to only as Jane Doe in cold cases
2 Who is they in restore their identities
They are the countless unnamed women who were victims of homicide often discovered decades ago but whose cases grew cold because their names were never known The project focuses on giving them back their names and dignity
3 Who is behind this team
The core team is led by researchers and journalists from various European countries often collaborating with forensic anthropologists genetic genealogists and historians A key figure is Dutch crime reporter Mick van Wely who has been instrumental in several identifications
4 Why only women
While many unidentified victims are male this project specifically highlights women because they are disproportionately represented among longterm unidentified persons in Europe and their cases often receive less historical and media attention
5 How can a person just be forgotten
Before modern databases and DNA technology if a body was found with no identification and no local missing person report matched the case would often go unsolved The victim became a file number their identity fading from public memory
Process Methods
6 How do you actually identify someone after so long
The team uses a multistep approach reexamining old case files and belongings applying modern forensic techniques and crucially using genetic genealogyuploading DNA from the victim to public databases to find distant relatives and build a family tree
7 What is genetic genealogy and how does it help
Its the use of DNA testing combined with traditional genealogical research By finding even distant genetic matches on consumer DNA databases investigators can reverseengineer a family tree to pinpoint the victims identity
8 Where do you get the DNA from old cases
DNA can often be extracted from preserved samples like hair bones or teeth held in police evidence archives or from
