In Amsterdam’s pink gentle district, a hologram of a lady who was brutally murdered 15 years in the past stares again at you thru a window.
The life-sized rendering of 19-year-old intercourse employee Bernadett ‘Betty’ Szabo leans ahead and breathes on the glass, unveiling the phrase “help”.
Detectives hope the highly effective enchantment will assist jog recollections sufficient for them to lastly remedy the chilly case homicide, after Ms Szabo was present in a pool of blood within the early hours of 19 February 2009.
The Hungarian teenager, who liked gardening and excelled on the violin, left her dwelling in Nyíregyháza for Amsterdam aged 18, the place she began a brand new life as a intercourse employee within the metropolis’s pink gentle district.
The blonde teenager, who had a big tattoo of a dragon which snaked throughout her abdomen and chest, later grew to become pregnant and was nicknamed ‘pinguin’, Dutch for penguin, as she continued to work all through the being pregnant.
Her son was positioned in foster care and was by no means given the possibility to know his mom, who was murdered simply three months after she gave delivery.
On the evening of her demise, two fellow intercourse employees realised that they had not seen or heard from Ms Szabo. When they went to verify on her in her workroom late that evening, they discovered her mendacity in a pool of blood.
Despite a large-scale investigation, police in Amsterdam have by no means caught her killer. Now they’re providing a €30,000 (£25,000) reward for info as they launch a recent enchantment for any witnesses to return ahead.
Anne Dreijer-Heemskerk of the chilly case workforce stated whereas each homicide case is tragic, Ms Szabo’s story is especially transferring.
“A young woman, only 19, taken from life in such a horrific way,” she added. “She already had a difficult life, working long hours as a sex worker and continuing until shortly before the birth of her son.
“Her son was placed in foster care and never had the chance to know his mother.”
The hologram will likely be seen in a single the home windows the town’s pink gentle district for every week within the hope that it prompts info which may lastly result in her killer
She added: “Betty was murdered in one of Amsterdam’s busiest spots, perhaps even one of the busiest in the Netherlands.
“It’s hard to believe that no one saw or heard anything unusual back then. People might have even talked about it elsewhere.”
A spokesperson for Amsterdam Police stated additionally they wish to attain out to individuals overseas who could have been visiting the town.
“The Red-Light District is one of the busiest places in Amsterdam and one of the most international ones,” she informed The Independent. “Many people with different nationalities pass by every day. This was no different in 2009.
“Therefore, we also want to reach out to people from abroad. Is there anyone who knows more? Have they visited perhaps the Red-Light District on that very day (19 February 2009), or do they even remember visiting Betty herself?”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/amsterdam-police-hologram-betty-szabo-b2644481.html