Police receive over 700 tips about the identities of 22 murdered women in cold cases

Over the past few months, the police services of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany have received over 700 tips regarding 22 girls and women who have presumably been murdered in these three countries. 150 tips were about cases in the Netherlands, according to a spokesperson for the Dutch police.

Most of the tips from the Netherlands concerned the so-called "Heulmeisje," a teenage girl found dead at a parking lot along the A12, De Heul, near Maarsbergen in 1976. The police received 30 tips on this case, with approximately a third being considered "serious," the spokesperson said. A DNA kinship investigation was launched in August to try to identify the girl.

The 22 cases are part of the "Identify Me" campaign launched in May. This campaign is a collaborative effort between the police forces of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, along with Interpol, to encourage the public to help identify 22 girls and women believed to have been murdered and then abandoned in one of the three countries.

The list of victims includes nine Dutch cases and others near the Dutch border. For example, it includes cases such as the Heulmeisje and the girl from Teteringen, who was found dead in the woods of that Brabant village in 1990.

For the campaign, well-known women from the participating countries shot a collective, multilingual video in which they appealed to the public and passed on information about the murdered women. For the Netherlands, singer S10 and actress Carice van Houten participated. There is an overview of all cases on Interpol's website, including details, photos and videos

In May, shortly after the campaign's launch, it was reported that over 200 tips had been submitted to the police in the three participating countries regarding the cases. This number has since significantly increased. The police are thoroughly investigating all tips "from A to Z" to check their usefulness, the spokesperson stated.