Rotterdam police reopen 35 year old murder case

The Rotterdam police's cold case team reopened the case surrounding the murder of 17-year-old Petra van den Berg during the early morning hours of New Year's Day 1982. This is a final attempt to find the Rotterdam teen's murderer, AD reports.

After celebrating the turning of the year with er family, Petra decided to take a walk in Oostzeedijk in Rotterdam to wish her friends a happy new year. Her parents decided to go to bed, but her mother woke up again soon after. Her daughter wasn't home yet and her coat was not hanging on the rack. Outside their home were many police officers. One of them came to the door with the terrible news that Petra had been murdered. She was stabbed to death less than 50 meters away from her home.

A few days after the murder, a boy living in a shelter near the crime scene was arrested. He was released again due to lack of evidence. In the year 2000 crime journalist Peter R. de Vries received an anonymous letter saying that Petra's murder was the result of a mistaken identity, but no evidence for this was ever found.

In a broadcast of EenVandaag on Friday night, Petra's family, the cold case team, former investigators and a witness will all talk about what happened that night. The police hope that information from the public may lead to an arrest.