In September 1999, a man on a boat near Amsterdam came across an industrial waste container floating in the Gaasp River. He brought it to shore, recognized the odor he smelled from his years as a fireman and alerted police.
Inside, they discovered the body of a young woman believed to be between 18 and 35 years old. She was just under 5-foot-3, with dark brown hair, and she probably had been shot dead that summer.
Her body, still in a dark, knitted jumper and turtleneck, was partially encased in concrete.
She “may have had partially Asian roots,” said police, who believe she most likely grew up in Germany, Luxembourg, France, Belgium, the Netherlands or other neighboring countries in Western Europe.
Police found men’s clothing, including a white jacket with a logo sewn over a scorch mark, stuffed into the same container. It appeared bags of detergent may have been used to weigh down the container.