Teen called police about her assailant just before she was killed near Amsterdam
The girl found killed in Duivendrecht early Wednesday morning had called police while cycling a home a few minutes earlier to say she was being followed and targeted by an individual, police confirmed Thursday. No arrests have been made in her murder, a 17-year-old from Abcoude named Lisa. So far, police have only said the suspect was on a bicycle, and they have asked "three specific road users" who may have seen her moments before she was killed to contact them immediately.
"The investigation so far indicates that the victim left Leidseplein in Amsterdam around 3:30 a.m. On her way to Abcoude, she cycled along Holterbergweg and was attacked there by a man who also owned a bicycle. The victim contacted the police dispatch center about this incident," authorities confirmed. "Officers subsequently found her there around 4:15 a.m." So far, police have received dozens of tips which are currently being investigated.
A few months earlier, Lisa had graduated from the Spinoza20First secondary school in Amsterdam-Duivendrecht, close to where her body was found. A late night out with friends in the neighborhood near Leidseplein turned tragic during that 45-minute window. She only started the journey home alone out of concern her gray Cowboy electric bicycle would be stolen from the bustling area, Parool reported.
After she called emergency services, police were able to track her phone's location, though authorities have not yet said how. Officers were dispatched to the Holterbergweg, where they found her body next to the ditch near the cycle path in front of De Toekomst sports park.
The police did not say what happened to the girl, only describing her death as brutal. Investigators were still at the scene on Thursday, magnet fishing in the ditch and searching the area with sniffer dogs, RTV Utrecht reported. The police were also clearing reeds near where the girl was found, a location near several allotment garden parks, the Johan Cruijff Arena, and the Ziggo Dome.
It is about nine kilometers from Leidseplein and six kilometers from Abcoude. Police said that they have compiled video camera footage to recreate most of that period of time, but they desperately need help compiling images and witness statements about the last seven minutes of her journey. Specifically, investigators want to speak with anyone who recorded video between the Breitnertoren near Amstel Station and the Holterbergweg during that period of time.
In this case, police believe there is only one suspect, and that he was in possession of a bicycle. "Detectives are also urgently seeking three road users who may be able to provide important information about the suspect, as they were riding on Holterbergweg between 4:10 and 4:30 a.m.," police wrote.
These individuals include "a scooter rider," anyone who was using a Biro microcar, "and the occupants of a light-colored van." The investigation is ongoing, and police are looking to speak with any other witnesses who might be able to assist them with solving the brutal crime along the roadway. Mayor Susanne de Roy van Zuidwijn of Ouder-Amstel, the municipality that covers part of Duivendrecht, ordered surveillance cameras installed around the location where Lisa was killed because a “serious crime” was committed.
The Holterbergweg was a familiar route for Lisa, Parool reported, taking her from her former school in Amsterdam-Oost, past the portions of Duivendrecht in both Amsterdam and Ouder-Amstel, and on to her home town of Abcoude in provincial Utrecht.
