Heul Girl | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1960–1964 Unknown. PossiblyWest Germany |
| Died | c. September 1976 Unknown |
| Cause of death | Homicide |
| Body discovered | 24 October 1976,Maarsbergen,Netherlands |
| Known for | Unidentified victim of homicide; unsolved murder |
| Height | 4 ft 9 in —5 ft 5 in (150 and 160 cm) |
TheHeul Girl (Dutch:Heulmeisje)[1] was a murder victim found on 24 October 1976 at the formerDe Heul parking lot on theA12, inMaarsbergen, Netherlands.[2] Her identity has never been established.[3]
It was assumed for many years that the naked, leaf-covered body belonged to a missing 18-year-old girl from a neighbouring village. However, that theory was ruled out in 2006 when the missing girl, now an adult, reported to the police.[4]
Based on later research on theepiphyseal plates, the Heul Girl would have been 12 to 15 years old at the time of death, putting her date of birth between 1960 and 1965.[1]Isotope research on her teeth showed that the girl probably lived between theRuhr andEifel regions of Germany for the first seven years of her life.[2] Around 1975, the child was likely inEast Germany orEastern Europe. The year prior to her death, she supposedly stayed in eitherWest Germany or the Netherlands. In that year, the girl received particularly poor nutrition, which may indicate extreme poverty or a possible kidnapping.[5]
In 2012, a witness stated that in 1976, multiple people saw the girl being "thrown out" by two men between the ages of 30 and 40.[6][7]
In 2013, both theOpsporing Verzocht program and the German variantAktenzeichen XY... ungelöst aired episodes on the case.[4][6]
In 2016, the German judiciary gave permission to start a large-scale investigation based on the girl'sDNA. This is a joint operation by both countries, in which DNA databases from both countries will be utilised.[5][8] At the end of 2018, theUtrecht police confirmed that DNA testing had not started yet.[9]
In 2023, the case was part ofOperation Identify Me byInterpol to identify 22 unidentified women who were found deceased in theNetherlands,Belgium andGermany between 1976 and 2019.[10]