On Sunday 21 September 1997, a group of people went on a mushroom trip in the forest by Elnes in Nittedal. On an open plain between the spruce trees, one of them stops at something white that lies partly under the moss on the ground.
For the first time in 24 years, Tore Ljunggren is back at the site together with Åsted Norway.
– THE FUNCTION: (Fv) Åsted Norway journalist Kristian Ervik, Tore Ljunggren who helped find the remains in 1997 and Åsted Norway expert Asbjørn Hansen at the discovery site in Nittedal. Photo: Espen Storsve / Åsted Norway
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Bone debris and skull
– This is where we found the first bone remains, says Tore and points.
One of the others in the tour is Tore’s brother-in-law. He is a doctor and began to study the bone finding more closely. They had found bones out in nature before, but this time it was something different.
– My brother-in-law is a doctor and he felt very confident that these were parts of a person’s pelvis, Tore says.
They began to look around and close by they found the remains of a pair of shorts without legs. On the trousers is a belt that is fastened to the innermost hole.
– NEW FINDINGS: After months of investigations, Åsted Norway made new findings among the investigative documents in the case from 1997. Photo: Espen Storsve / Åsted Norway
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– Then we realized that it had to be a human being.
New surveys
The identity of the man whose remains were found in Nittedal in 1997 has been a mystery to the police ever since.
– MYSTERY: The case received media attention in 1998, one year after the remains were found. Photo: Faksimile / Dagbladet
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Despite an extensive investigation in 1997 and 1998, the police came no closer to an answer.
Last autumn, Åsted Norway began to look into the matter. After gaining access to the archived investigation documents at the Eastern Police District, several pieces of information were discovered that may have been given too little weight back in the 1990s. Among other things, a clothing find in 1998 was closely linked to the discovery of the remains.
Traces pointed to the fact that these were the clothes of the unknown man, and in addition, objects found in the clothes showed that he could belong to the Lillehammer region.
Reported missing in 2018
In connection with Åsted Norway investigating the case, the ID group in Kripos also wanted to look at the case again.
Already in 1997, DNA was extracted from the bone remains, but the methods used at the time were not good enough for a general search in the register of missing persons in Norway.
– We decided to look at this case again, and had new samples taken for DNA search. This led to a positive hit on a missing person case, says Tore Walstad, who is the leader of the national ID group (Kripos).
– DNA PROFILE: Leader of the national ID group at Kripos, Tore A. Walstad, launched new technical investigations of the bone remains from 1997. Photo: Espen Storsve / Åsted Norway
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The missing person case that was found came to the Oslo police district only in 2018. A family member of the man had submitted a missing person report since they had not heard anything from the man since the early 1990s.
For three years, the man has been wanted within the police, both nationally and internationally, without new information coming to light that could say anything about what had happened to him.
The man has now been identified using DNA.
– THE PLACE OF FINANCE: The arrow shows the place where clothes were found, one year after the bone remains were found. All indications are that the clothes belonged to the man whose remains were found elsewhere in Nordmarka. Photo: Police
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– The fact that people like you in Åsted Norway are looking at these cases, has meant that we also take out these old cases and look at them again. The most important thing for us is to give the relatives an answer, no matter how long it has been, says Walstad in Kripos.
Last seen in 1993-1994
Åsted Norway has been in contact with the man’s family who say that there are several personal reasons why he was not reported missing by the police earlier. The man had ended up in a bad environment at a young adult age and the family eventually lost contact with him.
– CLOTHES FIND: This jacket was one of the garments found in the forest in 1998, one year after the bone remains were found. Photo: Police
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Over the years, they have tried to look for him and also wanted him through various channels, but it was not until 2018 that they went to the police.
Åsted Norway’s investigations indicate that the man was in his early 30s when he died. The presumed last observation of the man was in either 1993 or 1994.
The family tells Åsted Norway that they have always had a hope that the man was alive. Even though it has been many years, it was still a shock to get the message now.
– He has always been missing, even though we did not report him missing to the police until 2018, a close family member tells Åsted Norway.
Unclear cause of death
The forensic examinations in 1997 could not provide an answer as to why and how the man died.
Prosecutor for the case at the Eastern Police District, police inspector Hilde Bøch Høyer, informs Åsted Norway that no new investigations will be initiated by the police.
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