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Who knows anything about this young woman who was murdered 23 years ago? © Police
23 years after the body of a young, severely abused woman was found in the water, the case is now being reopened.
Frankfurt -The horror was great back then. The body of a girl, tied up in a bed sheet and sheet and weighed down with a parasol stand, was pulled out of the Main at the Wörthspitze. The thin corpse showed signs of long-term abuse: cigarettes had been put out on the skin, she had a “cauliflower ear” on the left side like a wrestler, caused by an untreated bruise.
“Soko Leopard” is investigating
The “Soko Leopard” was founded. Leopard because the brown bed sheet in which the body was wrapped had such a pattern of spots on it. However, the investigation came to nothing. Now the case is being reopened as part of the international search campaign “Identify Me”: Interpol and six European countries are calling for information on a total of 46 unsolved criminal cases involving previously unidentified women. In most cases, these women were murdered or died under unclear circumstances. Some of the cases date back decades; They come from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands as well as from the newly participating countries France, Italy and Spain. With the new search call, the police are hoping to get crucial information from the public. Since a large proportion of the cases presumably have international connections, the campaign is set up across national borders.
Numerous injuries all over the body
Like the girl from Main. On July 31st, one of the hottest days of 2001, the body was discovered floating in front of the Wörthspitze near Nied around 3 p.m. The girl was said to be 15 or 16 years old, probably born between 1985 and 1986. She had dark brown hair about 30 centimeters long, was only about 1.57 meters tall and was petite. The body weighed just 38.5 kilos. The armpit and pubic hair were shaved, but the thick, dark shin hair was not. The body had a variety of injuries that suggested long-term, serious abuse and had not received medical attention – including numerous elongated scars on the forehead, torso and legs, multiple fractures of both upper arms that had healed in a misaligned position, and numerous burn scars all over the body. The young woman has probably already had sexual intercourse. No signs of pregnancy were detected, nor were there any signs of genital injury. Forensic investigations revealed that the young person probably comes from Pakistan, Afghanistan or northern India. A clue to this came from the ribbons with which the corpse was tied in the fetal position: they were nalas, which in the countries mentioned are used to tie harem pants.
Girl was beaten to death
The body had been in the water for 12 to 24 hours; death is believed to have occurred between July 28 and 31, 2001. The possible cause of death was rib fractures caused by blunt force, which injured the lungs and spleen. In other words: The girl was beaten to death.
The parasol stand that was supposed to drag the corpse to the bottom of the Main was a Dutch make of the “ELFE” brand, but was also manufactured ten thousand times a year under the name “VEROPA” and sold throughout Europe, for example in “Praktiker” and “Hornbach” hardware stores . The lower part is gray-blue and divided into six chambers for filling with sand or water; There is a screw thread in the middle. At the upper end of the upwardly tapering standpipe there is a screw clamp sleeve that allows a parasol mast with a maximum diameter of 62 millimeters to pass through. At that time it was assumed that the body had perhaps been dumped into the Main from the Schwanheim Bridge or a ship. 144 possible ships were checked, more than 1,000 tips were checked, search notices were written in Farsi, Urdu, Dari and Pashto – without success.
Identity still unknown
The girl’s identity is still a mystery. That’s why the police are asking where a girl who had similarities to the facial reconstruction is missing, and who made suspicious observations on the Main between Griesheim, Schwanheim and Nied from July 28th to 31st, 2001. The Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office is still offering a reward of 10,000 euros. Information can be received by telephone (06 11) 83 84 84 or by email at [email protected]. The case is expected to be broadcast on Wednesday, December 11th on the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY unsolved”.
The girl was buried in the Heiligenstock cemetery; The investigators bought the gravestone. It says: “Unknown Girl”