We want to give them their names back': the team identifying Europe's forgotten female murder victims

"Dutch police contacted neighbouring Belgian and German forces and eventually Interpol about the possibility of an international appeal for information on the cases. It was this that brought Roberts' and other unidentified death cases to the desk of Susan Hitchin, from the forensics team at Interpol's headquarters in the French city of Lyon."

"In 2023, in an effort to locate family members and kickstart stalled investigations, Interpol launched Operation Identify Me and began publishing the details of dozens of women from across Europe who had been murdered or died in suspicious circumstances."

"Hitchin remembers the day that the message from Roberts' family in the UK came through to her team. They had recognised 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."

Rita Roberts' body was discovered in Belgium's Groot Schijn River in 1992, but remained unidentified for nearly three decades. Dutch police recognized a pattern of unidentified women victims across their cold cases and suspected many were foreign nationals or trafficking victims. This observation prompted collaboration between Belgian, German, and Dutch police with Interpol. In 2023, Interpol launched Operation Identify Me to publish details of murdered or suspicious death cases across Europe. The initiative successfully reconnected victims with families, including Roberts' UK relatives who identified her through her distinctive black rose tattoo featured in news reports about the appeal.

Read at www.theguardian.com