Following their call for information, Belgian, German and Dutch police services have jointly received over 200 tips – including possible names for several cases – in the search for the identity of 22 women who in recent years were found dead.
The first week of the international campaign, dubbed "Operation Identify Me," has yielded important new information, said the national police organisations and Interpol. While they see the result as "hopeful", they emphasised that more information is still badly needed.
“We are extremely grateful for all the support and attention. It is heartwarming to see how people are massively sharing the call online and continue to do so," said Campaign organiser Martin de Wit of the National Investigation Communication Team in the Netherlands.
Every tip can make a difference
"We also see several experts from all over the world spontaneously offering their help. The women in the campaign deserve to have their name back, and the information we are receiving has given us some hope for several cases," he said. "Every tip can make a difference for the next of kin.”
The campaign was launched on Wednesday 10 May, when the authorities published 22 search reports on Interpol's website, which can be viewed by the public. All victims in the campaign are unidentified women, in most cases killed by force.
So far, the police organisations in the participating countries have each received dozens of tips: 122 in Germany, 51 in the Netherlands and 55 in Belgium.
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"Not only is there a lot of research being done about the possible origin of clothing or jewellery, but possible names of specific victims have also been mentioned several times. This information is of course now being investigated further."
It is now up to the investigators in the three participating countries to analyse the information they received. Should this lead to the identification of a victim, the first priority is of course informing their next of kin about the fate of their loved one.
Additionally, as the vast majority of cases presumably concern a crime, the investigators should be given every opportunity to carry out further research in a careful manner. However, this means that it would take some time before any identification would be made public.
