Identify Me: BKA reports further search success

According to the German Federal Criminal Police Office, a previously unknown dead person in Spain has now been identified as a result of „Identify Me“

[datensicherheit.de, 03/26/2025] According to a recent report from the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the international „Identify Me“ search campaign has led to the identification of a previously unknown dead woman by the police: „The 33-year-old woman from Paraguay was found hanged in a chicken coop in the province of Girona in Spain in 2018. She had no identification documents with her and no one in the area knew who she was or how she got there.“ Despite extensive investigations by the local police, the identity of this person – known as „the woman in the hen house“ because of where she was found – had not been determined until now.

Abbildung: INTERPOL

„Identify Me“: The international cases of this campaign are described on the respective INTERPOL web page

International reach of „Identify Me“ campaign

„In mid-2019, her brother reported her missing to the Paraguayan authorities after several months without contact. However, a connection to the unknown deceased could not initially be established.“ The breakthrough in this case has now been achieved because the authorities in Paraguay were able to compare fingerprints uploaded by Spain during the „Identify Me“ campaign and shared via Interpol („Interpol Black Notice“) with their own national databases.

According to the BKA, the international reach of „Identify Me“ helped to identify a British victim in Belgium shortly after the campaign was launched in May 2023. This case involved the then 31-year-old woman from Cardiff, who was „found dead in a river in Antwerp in 1992“.

„Identify Me“ in cooperation with six European countries

In cooperation with the police forces of the German federal states, the BKA is still looking for witnesses to the nine outstanding German cases: „Several videos have already been published for the campaign and the individual appeals for information, which have reached more than one million people. Around 1,200 hints have been received from the public so far.“ Many of these are still being investigated.

In October 2024, the international search campaign „Identify Me“ continued with six European countries (Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain). Together with Interpol, the declared aim is to clarify the identity of 45 women. „Most of these women were either murdered or died under dubious or unexplained circumstances.“ Some cases date back decades and are believed to have international connections. With the renewed appeal for information, the police are hoping for „decisive clues from the public that will help to identify the unknown women“. So far, around 1,900 hints have been received about these cases.

„Identify Me“ campaign appeal: Every hint counts

Anyone with information or clues about the unknown deaths is asked to get in touch:

• The nine German cases are available on the BKA web page „Identify Me – Campaign to identify female victims of homicide“. „You can submit your information via the BKA’s contact form or contact any local police station.“
• All international cases of the campaign are available on the INTERPOL web page „Identify Me“. „If you have information about a case, you can use the contact form there to get in touch directly with the relevant national police team. However, you can also inform the BKA via the contact form or contact your local police station.“
• According to the BKA, there is no evidence to date that the case from Spain has any links to Germany. Possible suspects and witnesses can contact the Spanish police via the contact form on the INTERPOL web page mentioned above.

Further information on this topic:

BKA
Identify Me / Kampagne zur Identifizierung weiblicher Opfer von Tötungsdelikten

INTERPOL
Identify Me / Help us identify these unknown women whose bodies were found in Europe in recent decades

Bundeskriminalamt, 11/14/2023
Unbekannte Tote nach über 30 Jahren identifiziert / Erster Erfolg für die Kampagne „Identify Me“