In 1970, the body of an unknown woman was found in the Norwegian Isdalen Valley. The police immediately launched an investigation, but it did not get off the ground even after 50 years. We reveal the details of the mysterious case.
The mystery of a woman from the Isdalen Valley has been stirring people's minds for almost half a century. Some consider her a spy, others see political overtones in her death, and some still do not lose hope to shed light on the mysterious story of the death of an unidentified woman. We tell you what is known about a strange crime that happened in Norway in 1970.
49 years ago in the Isdalen Valley, which is located near the Norwegian town of Bergen, a man and his two daughters stumbled upon a terrible find - a burnt corpse of a woman. The travelers immediately contacted the police. The arriving policemen acted promptly - they conducted a full inspection of the territory, examined the position of the woman's body, found several clues, including an empty bottle of cheap liquor, two plastic containers containing gasoline, boots and an umbrella. However, no documents or items were found to identify the woman. Moreover, there were no tags and tags on the woman's clothes - someone had deliberately cut them off to cover their tracks.
Another strange moment was that the woman's corpse was found burnt, as well as some objects lying nearby. However, no traces of fire or fire were found. Who and why needed to try to burn the corpse, and then drag it to another place? Riddles around this case became more and more.
Confused policemen continued to investigate, but the case did not move from a dead center. Only three days later, investigators were able to find another clue in this mysterious case.
In the storage room of the Bergen station, suitcases were found, in which the police found money, clothes, several wigs, a notebook with notes, sunglasses. The forensic specialists who examined the personal belongings of the deceased were able to find several partial fingerprints belonging to the victim. But this did not give any results - no documents were found in the belongings of the murdered woman that would help establish her identity.
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The next day, the official autopsy results were ready. According to the conclusion of doctors, the woman's death occurred from an overdose of sleeping pills, as well as carbon monoxide poisoning. Soot was found in her lungs, indicating that she was still alive when the fire engulfed her body.
Later, the police decided to contact the local media, hoping that someone from the residents will shed light on this mysterious story. The attempt was successful - soon the police department of Bergen received a call from the Hordaheimen hotel. The officers said that the woman found in the Isdalen Valley was staying at their hotel and was last seen there on 23 November when she was evicted. The woman paid for everything in cash and was rather careful.
Also, the hotel workers were able to clarify the details of her appearance: a beautiful woman about 163 centimeters tall with dark brown hair and brown eyes. The police already had a lot, but none of the leads still helped in solving the case.
Then the policemen decided to go the other way. Among the things found in the suitcases of the murdered woman, a notebook with her personal notes was found. After a detailed study of the diary, the police found out that the unknown traveled a lot in the cities of Norway, as well as in different European countries. Each time she introduced herself with a new name, and the witnesses whom the police found from the records of her diary gave completely different testimonies about the color of her hair, as well as the language she spoke. In some cases she was described as a brown-haired woman speaking German, in others as a brunette speaking broken English.
They started talking about the identity of the found woman all over Norway - some considered her a spy, others saw her as a victim of political showdowns during the Cold War, and others wondered why the police did not study all possible versions. However, residents and activists had no opportunity to establish the truth, and therefore the story of the woman from Isdalen began to gradually be forgotten.
All the collected data about the unknown were transferred to Interpol, but this did not give any results. The case of a woman from Isdalen remained unsolved, and the official cause of death was suicide. The body of the unknown was buried in February 1971 at the Mollendal cemetery.
However, in 2016, the case was reopened due to newly discovered circumstances. The fact is that the resonant story of a woman from Isdalen became known to the whole world, and caring people, including two BBC journalists Marit Higraff and Neil McCarthy, began their own independent investigation.
So, journalists have joined forces with scientists from the Bergen Institute. They examined the remaining evidence in detail, interviewed witnesses, and also analyzed the jaw of a woman from Isdalen, which was preserved by forensic experts after an autopsy in 1970. The analysis showed that the unknown was born in Nuremberg, and at the time of her death she was about forty years old.
Later, American artist Stephen Missal created several portraits of the missing woman. It is these images that most accurately describe the appearance of a woman from the Isdalen Valley.
Despite the fact that the information received and images of the unknown have not yet yielded results, activists still hope to solve this mysterious case, which has haunted the inhabitants of Norway for half a century.
Author: DARIA CHERNOVA