Identified! Finland - Orivesi, woman found in forest, Apr'07 - Name withheld

[tuntematon]

Hi!

I registered here to let you know about this mystery we have in our hands here in Finland. A young womans body was found in a middle of a forest in Finland over two years ago. Her identity is still unknown and it is likely that she is not a Finnish citizen. Nobody knows where she is from.

I ask of you to visit www.tuntematon.info or www.identifyme.org to know more about this case. If you can be at any help or if you have ideas regarding this case, please make a note of it in our guest book!

Thank you!

 

[Facts given]

Hi

thanks for starting this thread.

The case is rather baffling.

I am familiar with the case. She was found deceased in Orivesi, in Finland two years ago.

The efforts to identify this person have been unsuccessful so far.

The cause of death is also a mystery, but the case was not treated as a homicide, so i am assuming her death was ruled suicide or she died from natural causes (from illness).

The case is known in Finland as 'oriveden vainaja'.

No sketch has been released of this person.

It is strange that this person is now deceased for two years, but so far no one obviously hasn't been looking her.

She had no family, no relatives, anyone at all???

 

[Donjeta]

The link in the opening post has some sketches:
http://www.tuntematon.info/thesketches.php

She may have been German since two pieces of a German passport were found in her bag. Why was her passport in pieces?

 

[Facts given]

To my great surprise, you are correct a sketch is now released.:woohoo:

I remember when the story first broke, the police did not release any sketches, saying that the body was in a bad condition, no artist available etc

Well, reportedly two tiny pieces of her passport was found.
Well all indications are that the woman did not want to be identified.. Looks like she destroyed her passport.
Perhaps suffered from depression, wanted a place to hide etc

I believe the finnish police contacted other countries, also Germany, Europol, Interpol etc, but without any success.

No idea at all, where she is from, the case got a lot of media attention in Finland, but no one ever came forward with any useful information.

 

[buracee]

Why was her passport in pieces?

At this point your guess is as good as anyone else's.

To my great surprise, you are correct a sketch is now released.:woohoo:

I remember when the story first broke, the police did not release any sketches, saying that the body was in a bad condition, no artist available etc

You´re quite right, those sketches were drawn recently from photos taken by police.

I believe the finnish police contacted other countries, also Germany, Europol, Interpol etc, but without any success.

No idea at all, where she is from, the case got a lot of media attention in Finland, but no one ever came forward with any useful information.

Right again, still no idea who is she or where did she came from. That´s the reason why we made identifyMe.org/tuntematon.info

siteadmin @ identifyMe.org

 

[Facts given]

Great job! It is a very informative site :clap:
Hopefully she will not remain 'unidentified' forever.

 

[buracee]

We may have some more info from the case in a few days (propably after finnish Juhannus at this upcoming weekend, big holiday when the whole country is shut down), nuthin big but some bits and pieces which may help us just a little bit further again..

siteadmin @ identifyMe.org

 

[badhorsie]

I am wondering whether she has had an eating disorder at some time. She was quite thin and young to have osteoporosis, even at 40
Just wondering...

 

[badhorsie]

What were the pills I wonder?

 

[buracee]

The cause of death is also a mystery

What were the pills I wonder?

For some reason finnish police hasnt released any information about pills or cause of death even though both are already resolved.

 

[Fairy1]

The link in the opening post has some sketches:
http://www.tuntematon.info/thesketches.php

She may have been German since two pieces of a German passport were found in her bag. Why was her passport in pieces?

Very interesting regarding the passport. Seems intentional??? I'm sorry, but if I had done these sketches, I would wish to remain anonymous too! Though I suppose it's better than nothing!

 

[Facts given]

IIRC these pills were described as prescription pills in one article.

Well, these sketches are better than nothing, her remains were fund in the woods, her face was not recognizable, her body was in a bad conditon, due to decomposition and perhaps wild animals.

It's been thought she is not from eastern europe or Russia,
her dental work was described as 'western style'.
She had german and english coins in her purse.

She must have had relatives, friends, why no one is looking for her?
She had no job, no social contacts? Strange.

 

[MaedchenX]

Rätselhaft!

The details of this case really strike me on a personal level as I transition in and out of the German/English speaking world fairly often being a dual citizen. It is a shame that none of the items lend themselves in one was or another as to determining possible nationality (well, other than the remains of the passport of course and I suppose the German euro coins and cigarettes, though i see the latter items as incidentals acquired through travel). I tend to think, without any real justification, that this woman had more more familiarity with the English language/world. There just seems to be a prevailing anglocentrism about the objects. The language settings of the MP3 player as well as the music selection, The Calvin and Hobbes book in English, The Next clothing she was wearing (British clothing/dept store- I don't believe there are any in Germany).

As for why she has yet to be identified I suspect it is because she took extreme efforts to not only conceal her identity in death, but also to take her life in a place she and those close to her were unfamiliar and not likely to look for her.

I wonder if it might not be possible, given the good condition of her teeth, to do isotope analysis to determine her place of origin. I'm sure it is a last resort scenario but given what little there is to go on it might narrow the field.

For those who might have interest in looking the following sites have fairly comprehensive listings of those missing in the UK and Germany respectively since there seems to be some general consensus that these might be places to start. I have already browsed through and have noted two very remote possibilities.

http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/areyoumissing/missing/adults/ (UK)
http://www.vermisstenfahndung.de/start.htm (Germany, it is alphabetical under 'Vermisste Personen')

Also, Interpol's list of fugitive women;

http://www.interpol.int/Public/Wanted/Search/ResultListNew.asp?ct=Data&so=DocTitle,Rank[d]&qu=(+%40META_PERSON_NOTIFICATION__TYPE_OF_NOTIFICATION+PUBLIC_RED+)+%26+(+%40META_PERSON__SEX+Female+)&mh=8&sh=56&nStartHit=0&cboNbHitsPerPage=8&cboNbPages=20

I have also been looking at the following site to get insight into what the 'GET ACT.' logo on the sports bag might be for, it almost looks like a promotional bag to me the kind one would get for free from participation in or for signing up for something.

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/search/95674414/

I really look forward to hearing any updates about this case.

 

[pudd]

This is very interesting. I believe now with the European travel rules you can go anywhere without a passport, is that right? Even more reason to think she may have come from another country.
And think, if she had told her family she was travelling (say, in Germany, hence the coins) and ended up in Finland, who would think to look there?
It's very good of you to bring this to the attention of the wider sleuthing community!

 

[Donjeta]

Since many European countries adopted the common money, euros, the nationality of the coins doesn't mean all that much, I believe. Since euros from every country can be used in any other euro country they get shuffled across the countries because people travel and she might have gotten the German coins when she bought a candy bar at the local supermarket at Orivesi.

Unless it was a disproportionately great number of coins from a certain country. Did she have any Finnish euro coins or just the German ones?

 

[tuntematon]

Thank you all for your interest regarging this case. It really warms many peoples hearts..

MaedchenX: Thank you for the links, they have allready been checked several times, and nothing was found. And what you said about those isotope-tests.. the woman has allready been buried at a cemetary in Orivesi, so I don´t know if they´re gonna dig her up until her identity is solved. The police is no more actively solving this case.

Since many European countries adopted the common money, euros, the nationality of the coins doesn't mean all that much, I believe. Since euros from every country can be used in any other euro country they get shuffled across the countries because people travel and she might have gotten the German coins when she bought a candy bar at the local supermarket at Orivesi.

Unless it was a disproportionately great number of coins from a certain country. Did she have any Finnish euro coins or just the German ones?

The coins that were found were a cent euro coins. Cents are very rare here in Finland, they are not used on a day-to-day bases. This a good point though, maybe we could add this observation to the webpages.

 

[kitbits]

This is very interesting. I believe now with the European travel rules you can go anywhere without a passport, is that right? Even more reason to think she may have come from another country.
And think, if she had told her family she was travelling (say, in Germany, hence the coins) and ended up in Finland, who would think to look there?
It's very good of you to bring this to the attention of the wider sleuthing community!

hi, Pudd...nope, EU citizens still have to have a passport when travelling between the countries. They just go through the EU queues at customs at the airport, for example. In fact, given all the terror scares, you definitely have to have your passport when travelling via plane, even from city to city within the same country.

She could be from the UK or Germany...she might have had a dual citizenship. The Next clothing does make me want to say she was from the UK, but then, you get a lot of international people shopping in high street shops, such as Next, all the time. I see she also had a 1p coin, another indicator of being in the UK at some point. She might have lived in the UK for work or whatever.

I have a good friend from Austria & she uses English a LOT on her FB account because she has a lot of English-speaking friends & she's into a lot of English-speaking bands...but...yeah...I'm thinking she might have been a UK national. Oh & my English brother-in-law used to live in Germany for years, married a German woman & had 2 sons with her, who stayed on in Germany after the divorce. hmmm...yeah, I'm really thinking she was a dual-citizen.

Thanks for the links, MaedchenX!!

Just wish there were better composite drawings!!!

 

[kitbits]

Oh yeah, about that sports bag...to me, it looks like some cheesy & cheap knock-off that you'd buy in an outdoor market...or at a pound shop (like a dollar store in the US).

 

[buracee]

hi, Pudd...nope, EU citizens still have to have a passport when travelling between the countries. They just go through the EU queues at customs at the airport, for example. In fact, given all the terror scares, you definitely have to have your passport when travelling via plane, even from city to city within the same country.

Hmm, not quite right. Havent you heard about The Schengen Agreement and The Borderless area?

"The Schengen Area is a group of twenty-five European countries which have abolished all border controls between each other."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area

 

[Facts given]

About travelling in Europe, i believe some kind of ID is necessary. Not necessarily passport, but driving licence or ID cards are also acceptable, if you are EU citizen.

Russians need a visa to enter Finland, i believe possible russian origin was ruled out.

The police went through lots of recources, but her identity remains a mystery.

Like finns say, it seems that woman has fallen from the sky.