Case with “Aktenzeichen XY…unsolved”
Unsolved cold case from 1997: burned corpse of woman in Altena – is the murderer her father?
This is what the victim from Hagen might have looked like when he was alive (face reconstruction by the police). An appeal in the program “Aktenzeichen XY…unsolved” is intended to help clarify the case.
© Police Hagen
In June 1997, a naked, burned corpse of a woman was discovered in a forest in Altena in North Rhine-Westphalia. DNA found at the crime scene suggested her father was involved – or the perpetrator himself. On Wednesday, the case is the subject of “Aktenzeichen XY”.
It is a gruesome discovery that a motorcyclist made on June 2, 1997 at around 7.30 p.m. in the forest in Altena-Rahmede in North Rhine-Westphalia, near the Bergfel settlement. Before him lie the charred remains of a woman. As the Hagen criminal police later determined, the woman was raped and choked before her death. They were then doused in petrol and set on fire. The autopsy brings further horrifying findings to light: when the perpetrator drove her into the forest, laid her down there and burned her, she must have been alive. However, there is no trace of a canister or the victim’s clothing.
The investigators found DNA traces under the fingernails. These suggest that the perpetrator is the young woman’s father – or at least that he was involved in the crime. But both his identity and that of the victim remain unknown. Reconstructions of the remains reveal that the woman had dark auburn hair, light skin, and dark eyes. At the time of death – as the forensic experts estimate – the woman weighed around 45 kilograms. Her shoe size is estimated between 33 and 35, her age between 18 and 22 years.
Cold case from Altena on Wednesday topic at “Aktenzeichen XY”
The well-groomed teeth of the deceased are also striking, especially one of the upper incisors, which apparently had a crystal glass stone as a tooth ornament when the victim was alive. The investigators are hoping for new clues from a call on the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY” on Wednesday (July 26 at 8:15 p.m.). A reward of 2,000 euros is offered for those who lead to the solving of the crime.
The well-groomed teeth of the victim from Hagen are particularly striking. She probably wore tooth jewelry on one of her incisors. Another was missing a small corner.
© Police Hagen
The Federal Criminal Police Office included the case from Altena-Bergfeld in the international “Identify Me” campaign at the beginning of May. In cooperation with the Dutch and the Belgian Police are now looking for 22 murder cases in which previously unknown women were the victims across borders. Six of these cases occurred in Germany.
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Sources: Police Hagen, Federal Criminal Police Office