Police in Amsterdam are hoping a hologram of a teenage sex worker will help finally solve a mysterious 15-year-old unsolved murder.
The life-size visualisation will depict Bernadette ‘Betty’ Szabo, 19, who was stabbed multiple times in February 2009, behind a window in Amsterdam’s Red Light district.
The hologram will show Szabo to be sitting on a stool behind a window in a crop top and shorts as she leans forward, breathes on the glass, and writes the word ‘help.
Officers believe that someone will have information on the dead woman, and seeing her moving will ‘help people feel a connection to her’ and encourage them to come forward.
The Amsterdam force said this was the first time it had used the hologram technique to try and solve a cold case but had hopes it would jog locals’ memories and help bring her killer, or killers, to justice.
Police in Amsterdam are using a life-size hologram of a murdered sex worker to try to catch her killer 15 years after her death
Bernadett ‘Betty’ Szabo was found dead in Amsterdam’s Red Light District in February 2009
The visualisation will show Szabo, who was stabbed multiple times on February 19, 2009, sitting on a stool behind a window as she reaches out to passersby for help
The hologram will show Szabo to be sitting on a stool behind a window in a crop top and shorts as she leans forward, breathes on the glass, and writes the word ‘help
Szabo was born in Hungary, but left for Amsterdam when she was 18 where she made money as a sex worker in the Red Light District.
She carried on her work in the adult industry after becoming pregnant and gave birth to a son who was placed with a foster family.
But on the night of February 19, 2009, two of her sex worker friends noticed they had not seen her in her work station on Oudezijds Achterburgwal.
To their horror, when they checked on her again at 1am, they found her dead in her room having been stabbed dozens of times.
Dutch police spokesperson, Eline Roovers, told Sky News that the force is in ‘close contact’ with Szabo’s family and that they have given their approval to use a hologram of the dead woman as part of the investigation.
The hologram, created using 3D visualisation technology, shows Szabo with her large dragon tattoo that covered her stomach and chest area.
‘This is the first time we’ve done something like this and, to be honest, we’re a bit nervous,’ said Benjamin van Gogh, the coordinator of the Amsterdam wanted and missing persons team.
‘We want to do justice to Betty, to her family and friends, and to the case. Therefore, before deciding to use a hologram for the campaign, we brainstormed with different parties both within and outside the police on whether we should go ahead with this and how we should set it up.’
The visualisation shows the teenager with her memorable and large dragon tattoo across her stomach and chest
The Amsterdam force said this was the first time it had used the hologram technique to try and solve a cold case
With the district being so popular with tourists, police are also keen to hear from anyone who may have been visiting the area on the night of Szabo’s death
He said the police always tried to put a face on a victim with public appeals, but the hologram takes this ‘a step further’.
Detectives hope the hologram, as well as a £25,000 reward, will help draw in new witnesses who may not necessarily be locals to the area of the murder.
Anne Dreijer-Heemskerk, of the cold case team, said: ”While every murder case is tragic, Betty’s story is especially moving.
‘A young woman, only 19, taken from life in such a horrific way. She already had a difficult life, working long hours as a sex worker and continuing until shortly before the birth of her son.
‘Her son was placed in foster care and never had the chance to know his mother.
‘Betty was murdered in one of the busiest areas in Amsterdam, maybe even in the Netherlands.
‘It is really almost impossible that there are no people who saw or heard something unusual at the time. Or heard someone talk about the case, which doesn’t even have to have been in Amsterdam, because, after all, the red light district gets visitors from all over the world.’
With the district being so popular with tourists, police are also keen to hear from anyone who may have been visiting the area on the night of Szabo’s death.
Noting that 15 years had passed since the killing, Dreijer-Heemsker added: ‘We hope witnesses who may have been afraid before or kept silent for other reasons now have the courage to come forward.’
Betty’s hologram can be seen from Saturday November 9 to Saturday November 16.