Norway Norway - Isdalen, WhtFem 503UFNOR, multiple aliases, multilingual, Nov'70
- Thread starter laini
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Since I can't seem to figure it out, are there any history buffs that could tell me what on earth she'd be doing in Norway if she was a spy for the Soviet Union?
Norway wasn't anywhere near the Soviet border, nor would their military have been any concern whatsoever to the Soviet Union at that time. The biggest immediate threat (that I can immediately think of) to the Soviets was Prague Spring, but that was largely under control by early 1969. Furthermore, it seems that there would be much better places for a German-speaking spy to be in order to collect information on Czechoslovakia. She did have German currency on her, so I suppose it is possible that she was in Germany during the unaccounted for time between April and October.
Am I missing anything?
Norway wasn't anywhere near the Soviet border, nor would their military have been any concern whatsoever to the Soviet Union at that time. The biggest immediate threat (that I can immediately think of) to the Soviets was Prague Spring, but that was largely under control by early 1969. Furthermore, it seems that there would be much better places for a German-speaking spy to be in order to collect information on Czechoslovakia. She did have German currency on her, so I suppose it is possible that she was in Germany during the unaccounted for time between April and October.
Am I missing anything?
It is a really interesting story with a lot of speculations about who she was and what she did here in Norway... I lived not far from where she died when I studied in the 90's and used to go for a walk in the area where she was found... I have been facinated about her story for many years as we dont have so many unindentified persons here in Norway.
The book you mentions is mainly fiction but the author have used interviews with the police and the informations we know about her. It is also made a cartoon about her story... But I doubt they ever will be translated to english unfortunally....
A couple of tv programs have used clearvoyance persons to get some informations about her, but I dont think any of them got so much information...
The book you mentions is mainly fiction but the author have used interviews with the police and the informations we know about her. It is also made a cartoon about her story... But I doubt they ever will be translated to english unfortunally....
A couple of tv programs have used clearvoyance persons to get some informations about her, but I dont think any of them got so much information...
I wonder why, if she carried nine passports, the authorities don't release some of those passport photos in an attempt to identify her. They obviously did a thorough investigation to have traced her so well. Is this a normal procedure by Norwegian police for any unknown suicide case (which they say that it was)? Or were they tracking her movements before her death? If so, don't surveillance photos of this woman exist somewhere? Just some thoughts...
I am not sure but I guess people recognized her by the drawings and because foreign women travelling alone in Norway grew attention to them at that time. In a tv-program about her in 2002 it seems that the Norwegian Police Security Service according to this webpage Isdalskvinnen - Wikipedia admitted that they where innvolved in her case but I have no idea if that was before or after her death. We will never know if the police have some surveillance photos of her, but I dont think it is any. I dont believe they had possibilites of surveillance photos from hotels etc. at that time so it only have to be if the police took some of her.
I dont think they normally do so extensive tracing with unknown suicide cases, so maybe they had som information already or because it is very seldom such things happens here and especially in the 70's.
I dont think they normally do so extensive tracing with unknown suicide cases, so maybe they had som information already or because it is very seldom such things happens here and especially in the 70's.
JupiterAmmon
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This case is so intriguing and mysterious, I am surprised there is not more information out their about it.
Was she found in a hotel room or in nature? There seems to be conflicting information on other sites as to where she was found.
Was she found in a hotel room or in nature? There seems to be conflicting information on other sites as to where she was found.
marycarney
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The Soviets had spies EVERYWHERE and still do (albeit they are properly 'The Russians' now). The USA has spies everywhere, so do the Brits and many, many other nations. It is the nature of international relationships.
Yes it is mysterious. It is one of the top ten norwegian mysteries/crimes but it tends to be forgotten outside the local newspapers who seems to remember the case now and then...
She was found in the nature, in a valley not far from the towncentre of Bergen. The area is much used for hiking and walking.
Norwegian
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Norway borders with Russia up north....
Irish_Eyes
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This is the time period just after an amazing oil discovery in the North Sea that changed Norway forever. I'm not sure that Norway was producing oil yet by this time, but they were certainly putting the infrastructure in place. Looking at her travels from France to Germany to Stavanger to Bergen, it would seem that her interest was in the North Sea Coast. So possibly working for a nation with a stake in the oil game? Note that OPEC was created in '68, so the politics of oil - who had it and who needed it - were changing rapidly at that time. Maybe she was Mossad??
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Remember that it was Lillehammer Norway where Mossad agents assasinated an innocent man whom they mistook for PLO terrorist leader Ali Hassan Salameh, but that was 1973 (i.e., a few years after this Jane Doe was found).
You would be correct, and I am officially a dope. I was only thinking about the western portion of the country, and I made myself look like a fool. :banghead: I promise not to make that error again.
Carry on.
It is naval bases in Bergen and Stavanger.... I know it was one outside Bergen in 1970 but I have no idea if it was one in Stavanger at this time but later on it was and still is.... And I think it is one outside Trondheim too...
Irish_Eyes
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Ah, right you are, Lorrie. When she stayed in Bergen, she is clearly staying near the port and fleet areas. Same with Trondheim. Oppdal, where she stayed with the photographer, looks to be a little village south of Trondheim area. Stavanger looks like smaller boats....maybe more pleasure boaters. At Stavanger, she stayed at a hotel at the campus of a university, and wasn't as near the water as in the other places.
Trimboli was, no doubt, the perfect cover, whether by luck or design. His work from that period seems largely to be scenic photographs of northern Europe.
Trimboli was, no doubt, the perfect cover, whether by luck or design. His work from that period seems largely to be scenic photographs of northern Europe.
JupiterAmmon
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Such a bizarre and intriguing case!
And that border is so tightly guarded even today, that it is illegal to wave to someone on the other side. Norway was the only NATO nation to border the Soviet Union.
