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Article

Victims, criminals or spies: Who are the Unidentified Women? Rod Repton , Derbyshire Branch

Two years ago I was doing research for my lectures on a cruise to Scandinavia when I read about two intriguing mysteries:

The Plaza Woman Twenty five years later in 1995, a young woman was found dead on the bed in the Oslo Plaza Hotel, shot through the forehead. She checked in as Jennifer Fergate, a Belgian citizen, but it was a false name. Who was this stylish woman? Why were the labels removed from her clothes? A year later, the Plaza woman was interred in a nameless grave in Oslo. To date both women remain unidentified, and it is widely speculated that they were involved in one or more of the following: Espionage, Drug smuggling, Prostitution or Extortion. Rye Man In January 1971 a young man was found dead in the Hotel Rye, Osterbro, Copenhagen Denmark. The man claimed to be a British citizen named Michael Scott. The passport number he provided was false, its number relating to a passport issued to a 17-year-old British seaman. No passport or any other personal documents were found. The Police do not know the cause of death; knew nothing about his identity nor why he was in Denmark. He remains unidentified. A Suspect During my research I have identified a suspect whom I can place at the scene of both deaths. He is an Italian national who died in a fatal Road Traffic Accident in Italy in 1996. From all the information and evidence I have collected, I believe that both women were murdered and their deaths were connected I now need help from the International police community who may have any knowledge of the Norwegian investigation and of my Italian suspect’s fatal accident. Specifically, I would like to research the following in the three countries: • Plaza Woman - where I can obtain details of the inquest and coroner’s report in Oslo. • Rye Man - where I can obtain details of the inquest and coroner’s report, and where he was buried/cremated. • Fatal RTA Italy - where I can obtain details of the police enquiries and file, the inquest and coroner’s report. If you can help Rod, please contact him at rod@reptongroup.co.uk

The Isdal Woman This was a name given to an unidentified woman who was found dead at Isdalen near Bergen, Norway in 1970. Although police at the time ruled a verdict of likely suicide, the case encouraged speculation over the years. Half a century later, it remains one of the strangest Cold War mysteries in Norwegian history. The circumstances were in 1970, a man and his two young daughters were hiking in the Isdalen Valley, near Bergen. Noting an unusual burning smell, one of the daughters found the charred body of a woman, located among some rocks. Three days later, investigators found two suitcases belonging to the woman at Bergen Railway station. In the case were: clothing, shoes, wigs, makeup, eczema cream, Norwegian krona, Belgian, British and Swiss coins, maps, timetables, a pair of glasses (with non-prescription lenses); sunglasses (with a fingerprint that matched the body), cosmetics, and a notepad. As with her body, any possible identifying information and labels had been removed. Police were able to decode the notepad entries, and determined that they indicated dates and places the woman had visited. As a result, based on handwritten check-in forms, police determined that the Isdal Woman had travelled around Norway with at least eight fake passports and aliases, whilst claiming to be Belgian. While authorities concluded that she had committed suicide by ingestion of sleeping pills, others believe that she was murdered. The Isdal Woman was given a Catholic burial in an unmarked grave within the Møllendal graveyard, Bergen. Attended by 16 members of the Bergen police force, she was buried in a zinc coffin to both preserve her remains and for ease of disinterment. Her ceremony was also photographed in case relatives came forward at a later date

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POLICE WORLD Vol 65 No.4, 2020