Operation #IdentifyMe: UK woman murdered in Belgium identified
Channel: INTERPOL
Date: 2023-11-14

‘The woman with the flower tattoo’, one of the 22 cases highlighted by Operation #IdentifyMe, has been named as Rita Roberts after 31 years.

Rita Roberts was 31 when she moved to Antwerp from Cardiff in February 1992. She last communicated with her relatives via postcard in May 1992.

On 10 May of this year, Operation Identify Me was launched, receiving significant coverage and generating some 1,250 tips from the public. A family member in the United Kingdom recognized the tattoo on the news and notified INTERPOL and Belgian authorities via the Identify Me appeal web page. The family then travelled to meet with investigators in Belgium, and formally identified their missing relative through distinguishing personal identifiers. Thereafter, the Antwerp family court was petitioned to have the victim’s death certificate amended to reflect her identity.

Now that her identity is known, Belgian authorities are calling on the public for any information they may have on Rita Roberts or the circumstances surrounding her death. This can be submitted via an online form on INTERPOL’s website.

INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock makes an official statement on the identification, congratulating authorities, and reminding the public that important work continues on the 21 remaining cases.

For more information: https://www.interpol.int/en/How-we-work/Notices/Operation-Identify-Me