Dutch police are using a hyper-realistic hologram to help solve a cold case.
There's an alarming number of cold cases that go unsolved every year, with the Bureau of Justice Assistance claiming there are 240,000 unsolved homicides - making it a 'cold case crisis.' Some have gone unsolved for decades, but that doesn't mean there aren't people out there trying to bring justice. It's sometimes not even a case of taking the killer to court, but simply getting some sense of closure for the loved ones of a victim.
Advancements in technology and testing means that cold case breakthroughs are becoming more common, and now, the police are leaning on an advanced bit of kit to try and close the file on one tragic cold case.
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As reported by the BBC, police in Amsterdam are using the hologram of a murdered sex worker to try and figure out what happened to her. The site explains how a lifelike and life-size hologram of Bernadette "Betty" Szabo now greets tourists in Amsterdam. The 19-year-old woman from Hungary was murdered in 2009, just a few months after giving birth. It's hoped that this haunting hologram will help locate anyone who might've seen Szabo before her death and lock down her last known movements before she was brutally stabbed.
If the campaign wasn't shocking enough, Szabo's hologram can be seen in a window in the popular Red Light District. The hologram will lean forward in a window, breathe on the glass, and then write the word 'help.'
Cold case detective Anne Dreijer-Heemskerk is determined to solve the case that has baffled Dutch authorities for 15 years: "A young woman, only 19, taken from life in such a horrific way."
Szabo's story was specifically picked before it's one of 'hardship and resilience.'
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Dreijer-Heemskerk explained: "We created a hologram that symbolises [Betty’s] personality - it’s not a one-to-one likeness. We hope people will remember this case again when they see it.
"The police did a thorough investigation, and there were of course CCTV cameras everywhere but it didn’t work out mainly because many people were reluctant to speak to us."
Detectives are also motivated by the fact that Szabo's child was taken into foster care and grew up without knowing their mother.
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On February 19, 2009, Szabo was supposed be taking a shift break, when two colleagues noticed her usual music wasn't playing. Upon entering the small room with a plastic-covered bed and sink, they found Szabo's body.
Although the Dutch police combed through CCTV and questioned witnesses, most of those who would've seen Szabo were tourists. The police suspect the killer could've come from abroad, but are now using the hologram and offer of a $32,000 reward in hopes of jogging someone's memory.
Amsterdam is dealing with other problems in the Red Light District, with controversial plans to relocate the brothels to an out-of-town 'erotic zone.' Sex workers are among the critics, with women saying that taking them out of public view and moving them out of the traditional Red Light District could put them in even more danger.