A murdered Dutch prostitute is haunting [1]Amsterdam’s famed Red Light
District from beyond the grave — pleading with passers-by for help
finding her killer.
Bernadett “Betty” Szabó, 19, was a new mother who was stabbed “dozens
of times” and left in a pool of her own blood in[2] the Dutch capital
in 2009.
Now cops are using a hologram of her to get the word out about her case
and ask for clues.
The hologram with Betty’s likeness peers out behind glass for johns and
tourists alike to see. She then breathes on the glass, fogging it up to
reveal the simple message, “Help.”
[3]A hologram of slain sexworker Bernadett “Betty” Szabóis
A hologram of slain sexworker Bernadett “Betty” Szabóis now on display
in Amsterdam’s Red Light District to help solve her cold case murder.
Amsterdam Police Unit
[4]Szabó's hologram is animated to breathe on the glass to reveal the
word "help"
Szabó’s hologram is animated to breathe on the glass to reveal the
word, “help.” Amsterdam Police Unit via Storyful
Benjamin van Gogh, coordinator of the Amsterdam Wanted and Missing
Persons Team, said police have hopes that the hologram, the first of
its kind in the city, could shame people who know what happened to
Betty to reach out to police after 15 years of silence.
“Betty’s hologram may create a certain connection with her and thus
convince a person to come forward,” van Gogh said in a statement. “In
this type of case, we always try to put a face on a victim, so that
informants know who they’re doing it for, and the hologram is a way of
taking this a step further.”
Police officials said the hologram was made with the consent of Szabó’s
family, with authorities “committed to doing this with dignity and with
the clear purpose of achieving some form of justice for Betty by
finding her murderer or murderers.”
Szabó, of Hungary, left for Amsterdam when she was just 18, finding
work as a prostitute in the Red Light District, which she continued
despite getting pregnant.
[5]Szabó was 19-years-old when she was found dead in a pool of her own
blood.
Szabó was 19-years-old when she was found dead in a pool of her own
blood. Amsterdam Police Unit
Szabó disappeared on Feb. 19, 2009, three months after giving birth,
with two of her colleagues first suspecting she “might have had a bad
day or might have gone home early,” police say.
When they went searching for Szabó, they discovered the grisly crime
scene in her “workroom.”
Anne Dreijer-Heemskerk, a member of the Cold Case Team, said Szabó’s
story was particularly haunting, as it took place in the heart of one
of Amsterdam’s busiest areas.
[6]Police say the new mom was stabbed dozens of times and left in her
"workroom."
Police say the new mom was stabbed dozens of times and left in her
“workroom.” Credit: Amsterdam Police Unit via Storyful
“A young girl, just turned 19, who was robbed of her life in a horrible
way. And who didn’t have an easy life before she died,”
Dreijer-Heemskerk said.
“She worked long hours as a sex worker and kept working until just
before she gave birth to her son,” she added. “We hope witnesses who
may have been afraid before or kept silent for other reasons now have
the courage to come forward.”
Along with the hologram, police have set up large stickers, posters and
television screens with information on the case across the Red Light
District.
Authorities also raised the reward for information related to the case
to $32,000.
References
1.
https://nypost.com/2023/04/12/amsterdam-considering-moving-legal-prostitution-from-red-light-district-to-suburban-erotic-center/
2.
https://nypost.com/2024/11/09/world-news/4-anti-israel-amsterdam-pogrom-attackers-remain-in-custody-report/
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6. file:///tmp/lynxXXXXEIZc7m/L1253635-5408TMP.html
