How the British ‘woman with flower tattoo’ was identified: Name of Belgium murder victim revealed as police hunt killer

14 November 2023, 14:52

A British woman who was murdered in Belgium has finally been identified after three decades.=

Rita Roberts died along with 21 other women in a case that has baffled police for years.

Her identity has finally been confirmed as part of an Interpol investigation into the deaths of 22 unidentified women, who are all believed to have been murdered.

Rita was violently killed when her body was found against a grate in the water of the river 'Groot Schijn' near the Ten Eekhovelei in Antwerp, Belgium.

Her family said learning the news of what had happened to her years later was "shocking and heartbreaking".

"Our passionate, loving and free-spirited sister was cruelly taken away," they said in a statement shared by police.

"Whilst the news has been difficult to process, we are incredibly grateful to have uncovered what happened to Rita."

Police in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium worked tirelessly as they tried to piece together what happened to the 22 women, who are all thought to have been murdered in mysterious circumstances going back 50 years.

Under Operation Identify Me, they went public pleading for information about what happened to the women.

Among the information released by police was Rita’s distinctive tattoo.

A relative of hers came forward and identified the distinctive flower tattoo - a black rose with green leaves and R Nick underneath.

It emerged she went to Antwerp from Cardiff in February the year she died.

She sent her family a final postcard in May - her body was found not long afterwards.

Most of the victims were aged between 15 and 30 when they died between 1976 and 2019.

Belgian police are now pleading for more information in the hope they may be able to identify her killer.

The decision by police to release the women’s detail scale after the unsolved murder of a woman found in a wheelie bin in a river in Amsterdam.

The bin was nailed shut and police found a woman’s body - she had been shot and part of her body was cast in cement.

Rita's last communication with her family was in May 1992, just one month before she was brutally killed.

'Operation Identify Me' was launched in May this year, which led to her identification after a family member recognised the picture of her tattoo.

Rita's family issued a full statement: “The news was shocking and heartbreaking. Our passionate, loving and free-spirited sister was cruelly taken away.

"There are no words to truly express the grievance we felt at that time, and still feel today.

"Whilst the news has been difficult to process, we are incredibly grateful to have uncovered what happened to Rita."

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"We miss her deeply but are grateful for the excellent support and care of Belgium Missing Persons, Antwerp Police, INTERPOL and Durham Police in the UK," it continued.

"This cross-border collaboration has given a missing girl back her identity, and enabled the family to know she is at rest."

They added that Rita was a "beautiful person" that "loved travelling".

Operation #IdentifyMe: UK woman murdered in Belgium identified

"She loved her family, especially her nephews and nieces, and always wanted to have a family of her own. She had the ability to light up a room, and wherever she went, she was the life and soul of the party.

"We hope that wherever she is now, she is at peace.”

Interpol’s Identify Me has received more than 500 messages and tips from the public.

Secretary General Jürgen Stock said today: “After 31 years an unidentified murdered woman has been given her name back and some closure has been brought to her family. 

“Such cases underline the vital need to connect police worldwide, especially when missing persons are involved.

“We congratulate the authorities in Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands for their leadership in Operation Identify Me. Its important work continues.”

INTERPOL urges members of the public, particularly those who remember a missing friend or family member, to get in touch via their Identify Me portal if they recognise anyone on the site.