Family of Brit ‘girl with flower tattoo’ feared she died in aircraft crash
The household of a lady who was discovered useless in a river and was beforehand solely identifiable solely by a particular flower tattoo on her physique feared she had died in a aircraft crash.
Rita Roberts, 31, had moved to Antwerp from Cardiff in February 1992, and was discovered useless 4 months later towards a grate in a river within the Belgian metropolis. For three a long time her physique remained unidentified however a global enchantment that was launched into the chilly case this 12 months solved the thriller.
Rita’s sister Donna, 61, recognised her tattoo, a darkish rose with ‘R’Nick’ written beneath, after police printed the images on-line within the hope of discovering clues as to who this mysterious girl was.
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And her household have now spoken out and shared theories as to how Rita died, or so that they thought. At one level the household even questioned if Rita had been killed when a Boeing 747 smashed right into a block of flats in Amsterdam, Netherlands, killing 43 folks.
(Image: PA)
Her brother, Jason, instructed the Daily Mail: “We thought she was in Belgium, Holland or Germany and we hoped she was building a new life for herself,” Jason mentioned.
“Then that plane went into a tower block killing so many people . . . there were unidentified bodies: we thought one of them could have been Rita.”
She hadn’t contacted them since she despatched them a postcard in May 1992, so the household had no concept what had occurred to Rita.
Jason added that his sister was at one level pressured right into a interval of prostitution within the Dutch capital.
“She was put to work on the game but managed to get a message to us in Cardiff,” he mentioned.
(Image: PA)
“Our brother, Tony, went over to bring her back. She was in a terrible state, half starved. It took three months to feed her up before she started recovering.”
Jason had flown out to Holland and Belgium twice to search for her when Rita was lacking, and even contacted police for assist. To no avail.
“My mum knew we had lost her. It was never spoken about, but I could see it in her eyes,” he mentioned.
On Donna recognising the tat, Jason added: “She was adamant about it, so we knew it was Rita.”
Now that her determine is understood, Belgian authorities are calling on the general public for any data they might have on Rita or the circumstances surrounding her loss of life, which was described as having been violent. This might be submitted by way of a web based kind on Interpol’s web site.
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