The 31-year-old Liudmila Zavada was listed under the codename ES06 on the Identify Me list. Her body was found on July 3, 2005, under suspicious circumstances by a road in Viladecans, a place in the Barcelona region. Despite thorough police investigations, her identity could not be established. Because she was wearing pink clothing, she was referred to in the Identify Me campaign as “The woman in pink.”
Identify Me
The Identify Me campaign focuses on the identification of unknown deceased women, who in most cases have been violently killed. In the campaign, well-known women, such as actress Carice van Houten and singer S10, urge the public to think about the identity of the unknown women. Besides the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain participated in the campaign. Interpol, simultaneously with the launch of the publicity campaigns, called on police organizations worldwide to bring the cases on the Identify Me list through national police systems. This led to a fingerprint match in Turkey with the woman found in Spain. A DNA comparison with family members of Liudmila Zavada ultimately confirmed her identity.
Three Identifications
The identification of Liudmila Zavada is the third success of the Identify Me campaign. Previously, family members of the British Rita Roberts recognized their loved one by her tattoo. Her body was found in 1992 in Antwerp, after which her identity remained unknown for 30 years. Earlier this year, Ainoha Izaga Ibieta Lima from Paraguay was identified. Her body was found in Spain in 2018.
International
The National Team for Investigation Communication of the Dutch police is pleased with the results of the campaigns, says project leader Martin de Wit. “The successes in the campaigns show how important it is for police organizations to work together internationally and to exchange information with each other and with the public. Within the Dutch police, the National Expertise Center for Missing Persons and the National International Legal Assistance Center play crucial roles in this. The matches also confirm that victims who remain unidentified are usually from a different country than where they were found. We hope to inform relatives about the fate of their loved ones in many more cases and do justice to the victims.”
Still 44 Cases
There are still 44 unidentified women on the Identify Me list, including eleven women who were found in the Netherlands. Most of them were killed violently or died under suspicious circumstances. The police urge everyone to continue thinking about their identity. The list with all details per case can be found on the Interpol website.
