NL11 - The woman with the Belgian connection
De LImburger: wie is toch de onbekende dode vrouw, in 2013 gevonden op de oever van de Pietersplas?
DNA from the 2013 ‘ Pietersplas corpse’ in Maastricht was recently compared with that of three missing women, but failed to produce a match. Interpol's international Identify Me campaign has generated tips and names, but has not yet led to the tracing of identities.
Among the seven tips received by police and justice since October last year were four names of women who have been missing for more than a decade. In three cases DNA has already been compared, in a fourth missing persons case that investigation is still ongoing, a justice spokeswoman informed.
The woman found on an overgrown bank on the Meuse River in 2013 is one of 46 unknown dead women on the international Identify Me list.
The 46 women on the current list have been found in six European countries, 11 of them in the Netherlands.
Two Dutch cases have been added, of which the unknown woman near the Pietersplas is one. The four tips with specific information come from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, but not from relatives of missing persons. From which sources the tips do come, the justice department did not say.
The body of the woman found in January 2013 on the bank of what is also known as gravel pit Oost-Maarland was severely degraded as it had been in the water for a long time. Skin colour, hair colour and hairstyle are unknown. She wore no clothes. However, some details are known about her appearance. She was around 1.70 metres tall, under 40, had remarkably small feet (size 34 or 35) and teeth with many amalgam fillings. A facial reconstruction was made based on her skull.
In this case, jewellery is the main item that can lead to identification. Although not precious, these are striking pieces. Besides a silver tongue piercing, she wore on her right index finger a striking silver ring with a pendant on it of a fish with a pink stone in it, by a French brand. Also a necklace with the letters SL and two small arrows engraved on the back and a Japanese Q&Q watch with stones around the dial. An unusual model of between 30 and 50 euros, which was sold mainly in Eastern Europe. Three recent tips relate to shops where the jewellery might have been bought.
There is a remarkable link to Belgium: her DNA matched a blood sample in a Belgian criminal investigation. Justice would not comment on this other than that it did not lead to identification. It is an indication that she resided in Belgium before her death. It is likely that the body was floated to the Netherlands by the current.
BBM
This woman is one of the two cases in which Dutch LE was given permission by the courts to use private dna databases for genetic geneaology in cold case investigations, something the law does not allow.
Legal Breakthrough: Dutch Court approves use of private DNA databases