Interpol has asked the public for help to solve a more than 40-year-old cold case involving a still-unidentified murdered girl found with a 10p coin.
The girl, believed to be between 16 and 23 years old, is one of 46 unsolved cases the international police agency is trying to solve as part of Operation Identify Me, a massive campaign that aims to identify the murdered women. throughout Europe at the end of the 20th century. .
Details of the women and girls, believed to be aged between 15 and 30 at the time of their deaths, have been published on the Interpol website.
FR07, a case known to Interpol as “The 10p Girl”, is the case 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 motorway 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 matchbox with no lid.
The girl, believed to be between 16 and 23 years old, is one of 46 unsolved cases Interpol is seeking to solve as part of Operation Identify Me.
They found her wearing blue jeans and a white ruffled shirt.
She was wearing Bata brand shoes that were European size 38.
The girl was found with a 10p coin on her.
His body was found next to a motorway near the village of Le Celliers (pictured)
The unidentified girl was wearing a gold-colored metal chain with a brown wooden bolo-shaped pendant, which was usually worn by recruits who had completed their military service.
She wore a choker with five beads.
The victim, believed to have been murdered between June and September of that year, was described as a white woman who was 165cm (5ft 5in) tall and had brown hair.
His teeth were classified as ‘perfect’ and he had the distinction of not having had any dental treatment.
She was tragically left on the side of the road for so long that she was found “in a state of skeletonization.”
As a result, it is unknown what his eye color was, or whether he had tattoos, birthmarks or scars.
However, she was found to be wearing blue Loys brand jeans of size 38, a dark leather belt, a white striped blouse with ruffles and red Bata brand shoes of European size 38.
He also wore several pieces of jewelry, notably a gold-colored metal chain with a brown wooden bowling pin pendant, which was typically worn by recruits who had completed their military service.
The girl also wore a black leather choker with five beads, four metal bracelets, and a metal keychain 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 “discarded like garbage.”
“There was no respect or care for her before her death,” he adds.
Cops believed that since she had a 10p coin, she was British or traveling in Britain before her murder, although they have since said she may have found the coin or it may have been given to her.
They have since said they do not want to reveal how she was murdered to prevent people from falsely claiming responsibility.
Police also said the teen’s remains can no longer be found, complicating the investigation.
A Napoleon keychain was found on his body
A Taxiphone telephone token was found on his body.
“If we can find them, it would be possible to work with their DNA to establish a link with the family,” Dannerolle said.
Retired detective Alain Brillet was working 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 was from or who had killed her,” he said. .
The BBC found a woman who recalled the fear that the discovery of her body caused in the town, but as the victim was not local, most people forgot about it and moved on.
The push to find out more about the girl is part of Operation Identify Me, the first time Interpol black notices – requests for information about an unidentified body – who have disappeared, have been made public.
Historically, Black Notices only circulated internally.
Dr Susan Hitchin, coordinator of Interpol’s DNA unit, told the BBC that the ease of movement caused by open borders, increased global migration and human trafficking has led to more people being reported as missing outside their countries of origin.
‘These women have suffered a double injustice. They have become victims twice: they have been killed through an act of violence and their name has been denied in death,’ he said.