With the "Identify Me" campaign, Interpol wants to revive 22 cases at a standstill

Interpol is launching a public campaign to identify 22 victims who have been missing for decades. © AFP PHOTO/INTERPOL

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Interpol and police in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany decided to publish on Wednesday the details of 22 "black notices", the color code used by Interpol for unidentified deceased people to try to find their identity and solve these cases.

Advertising

Read more

The most recent case dates back to 2019, with the discovery of a body in a municipal park in Belgium. The oldest from 1976, with that of a corpse in a motorway parking lot in the Netherlands. In all, 22 women known only by the name of their file: the woman with the bracelet, the woman in men's clothes, the girl from Teteringen, the woman in the Scheldt...

These 22 pending cases "have no link between them", but have in common "their international context", says François-Xavier Laurent, manager of DNA databases at Interpol. Other common points: these women were all murdered and that they were probably killed far from their country of origin, explains our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Bénazet.

Putting a name on victims

Failing to identify these victims, Interpol decided to rely on the general public. The international police organization mobilized several German, Belgian and Dutch stars, including singer Axelle Red to launch the campaign called "Identify Me". "For years, we haven't known who they are," the campaign clip reads.

The gruesome details of the "black notices" released by Interpol include photos of the victims' clothing, objects they had on them, photos or reconstructions of their faces. The information they contain is normally reserved for investigators. Images bordering on the unbearable, but which could make it possible to put a name on these victims in the hope of relaunching these investigations at a standstill.

«

All avenues considered to resolve these "cold cases" have been addressed. Investigations are at a standstill and we hope that public attention will help move them forward," François-Xavier Laurent, manager of DNA databases at Interpol, told AFP.

► Read also: France: one year later, a mixed record for the "Cold Case" pole

(

And with AFP)

Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Read on on the same topics:

  • Belgium
  • Germany
  • Netherlands
  • Criminality