"Our hearts are broken" says family of Lisa, 17, killed while biking home from Amsterdam
The murder of a 17-year-old Abcoude girl has come as a complete shock to her family, they said in a statement on Thursday. Identified only as Lisa, at their request, she had spent Tuesday night out with friends in the Leidseplein district in Amsterdam, but was murdered about halfway between there and her family's home in Abcoude, a village just over 15 kilometers away. The murder has also sparked another call by women's rights advocates to demand their ability to enjoy and celebrate their lives at all times, day or night.
Lisa and her friends parted ways at 3:30 a.m., and the teenager was concerned about leaving her electric bike in Leidseplein due to the possibility it would be stolen. While on her way home, the blond girl was attacked by an unknown assailant. This happened south of the Spinoza20First secondary school in Amsterdam-Oost where she recently graduated. She called police, who dispatched officers to the location of her phone, a stretch of the Holterbergweg in Duivendrecht.
It was there they found her lifeless body in a ditch at 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday. "Our hearts are broken," her family wrote in a statement released by victims' services organization Names de Familie. "We hope we can mourn Lisa's loss together in peace and privacy. We are immense supported by the love and sympathy from family, friends, and fellow villagers, and we want to express our gratitude for this."
Appeals for witnesses and information have led to dozens of tips, but no arrests were made as of Thursday evening. Police said they suspected a man on a bicycle of involvement in the murder, and detectives were hoping to speak with a few potential witnesses. This includes a scooter rider and the occupants of both a microcar and a van seen in the area around the time of the death.
Lisa's funeral will be held in private, though the family understands why the shock of their "beloved daughter's death" is being closely followed by news media and the public. Although her name is circulating in various social media groups, the family has asked journalists to refrain from publishing her last name or her photo. "The loss of Lisa is incomprehensible to her family and has brought them intense grief," Namens de Familie wrote.
The new head of Spinoza20First, Kimberley Kaizer, told RTL Nieuws that the school is looking for an appropriate way to hold a memorial for Lisa. Just before the summer, she graduated from the pre-university program at the Dalton school, where students at different levels often work with each other in the classrooms and on group projects.
"We are waiting to hear what the family's wishes are; once we have that clear, we will take action. There will be time to reflect together," the school leader said. "We want to adequately care for the staff and students, and provide them with space to process this news," she continued.
"Lisa will remain part of our community."
Abcoude, a village of 8,300 residents, was understandably rocked by the girl’s death. Mayor Maarten Divdendal of the municipality of De Ronde, which includes Abcoude, was despondent. He and the residents of the Utrecht town sympathize “with the great grief that her parents, family, and friends are now experiencing,” he told RTV Utrecht on Wednesday.
Dutch actress Nienke 's Gravemade was also repulsed by the murder. She has spent years advocating against misogyny, and grew up in Bilthoven, about 30 kilometers from Abcoude. In a post on Instagram, she decried those who might be asking questions that seem to put the blame for the violence on the victim, like those wondering why would she be biking home alone so late.
She was unnerved by those who have focused on the girl's hair color, or police descriptions of her red handbag, to say these details may have triggered the violence. It is as if late nights are somehow for the "piercing" stares, "the man in the bushes", or perhaps "sex without consent," she expressed with anger and frustration.
"I demand the night. I demand the streets. I demand that the fear be abated. I demand 24 hours of my day. I demand that 17-year-old girls get home safely."
