Can YOU identify the girl with the 10p coin? Interpol reopens case of woman found murdered in France 42 years ago with her shoes, necklaces and British currency the only clues to who she is
Interpol has asked the public for help solving a more than 40-year-old cold case of an unidentified murdered girl found carrying a 10-cent coin.
The girl, believed to be between 16 and 23 years old, is one of 46 cold cases that the International Police Bureau is trying to solve as part of Operation Identify Me, a large-scale campaign aimed at identifying women living across the country in the late 20th century. Europe have been murdered. .
Details of the women and girls, believed to be between 15 and 30 years old at the time of their deaths, have been published on the Interpol website.
FR07, a case known to Interpol as ‘The Girl with the 10 Pence Coin’, is believed to have the strongest link to Britain.
The girl at the center of the case, who was found on the side of the D723 highway in Le Cellier, northeastern France, has not been identified since she was found on November 25, 1982.
She was found with little more than a 10p coin, a taxiphone telephone token and a small box of matches without a lid.
The girl, believed to be between 16 and 23 years old, is one of 46 cold cases Interpol is trying to solve as part of Operation Identify Me.
She was found wearing blue jeans and a white ruffled shirt
She wore shoes from the Bata brand with European size 38
The girl was found with a 10 cent coin on her body
Her body was found next to a highway near the village of Le Celliers (photo)
The unidentified girl had a gold-colored metal chain with a brown wooden bowling pin-shaped pendant, which was often worn by conscripts who had completed their military service.
She wore a choker with five beads on it
The victim, believed to have been killed between June and September of that year, was described as a white woman, 165cm tall with brown hair.
Her teeth were described as ‘perfect’ and she had the peculiarity of not having undergone any dental treatment.
Tragically, she had been dumped on the side of the road for so long that she was found ‘in a state of skeletonisation’.
As a result, it is unknown what her eye color was and whether she had tattoos, birthmarks or scars.
However, she appeared to have worn blue jeans from the Loys brand in size 38, a dark leather belt, a white blouse with pinstripe and ruffles and red shoes from the Bata brand in European size 38.
She also wore several pieces of jewelry, most notably a gold-colored metal chain with a brown wooden bowling pin-shaped pendant, which was often worn by conscripts who had completed their military service.
The girl also had a black leather choker with five beads, four metal bracelets and a metal key ring in the shape of Napoleon.
Speaking to the BBC near the area where she was found, French detective Franc Dannerolle said the teenager’s body was “disposed of as waste.”
“There was no respect or care for her before her death,” he added.
Police believed that given she had a 10 pence coin, she was British or had been traveling in Britain before her murder, although they have since said she could have found the coin or given it to him.
They have since said they will not reveal how she was killed to prevent people from falsely claiming responsibility.
Police also said her teen’s remains can no longer be found, complicating the investigation.
A Napoleon key ring was found on her body
A telephone coin from a taxiphone was found on her body
“If we manage to find them, it could be possible to work on her DNA to get a link to the family,” Dannerolle said.
Retired detective Alain Brillet worked on the case at the time and described it as a ‘triple enigma’.
“The strangest and most incredible thing was that we had someone who had been murdered, because we knew she had been murdered, but we could never find out what her name was, where she came from or who killed her,” he said. .
The BBC found a woman who recalled the fear the discovery of her body had caused in the village, but because the victim was not local, most people forgot about it and moved on.
The push for more information about the girl is part of Operation Identify Me, the first time Interpol Black Notices, requests for information about an unidentified body that has gone missing, have been made public.
Historically, Black Notices were only distributed internally.
Dr. Susan Hitchin, coordinator of Interpol’s DNA unit, told the BBC that the ease of movement brought about by open borders, increased global migration and human trafficking has led to more people being reported missing outside their countries of origin.
‘These women have suffered double injustice. “They were victimized twice: they were killed by an act of violence and their names were taken from them at death,” she said.