She is nicknamed “the woman with the ring” by investigators. Interpol released investigative evidence on Tuesday in an effort to identify 46 women found dead in six European countries over several decades. Among the reopened “cold cases”: a woman found dead in 2008 in Villefranche-sur-mer.
We don’t know much about her. It is even one of his only investigations for which Interpol was unable to reconstruct his face to appeal for witnesses.
Investigators nevertheless published extracts from their “black notice” – alerts in principle reserved for police use – to try to identify him.
His body discovered naked below the Grande corniche
The case dates back to 5 mars 2008. The body of this woman, whose age is estimated between 60 and 75 years old, was found below the Grande Corniche road in the town of Villefranche-sur-mer. “It is a very isolated place and difficult to access (…) She is in the middle of brambles and bushes about 5 meters from the road”can we read on the “black notice”.
According to his forensic examination, his death dates back to four or six days before the macabre discovery. The cause of his death? “A trauma, probably a crime”confides the investigators, without giving further details.
More information can be found in the archives of Nice-Morning. At the time, our journalist Didier Chalumeau relayed the affair in an article entitled “The mystery of the unknown of the Grande corniche”.
It was an agent from the water company Veolia who discovered his body, while he was looking for a water meter. “I was walking on the low wall when I saw the body. At first I thought it was an animal, then seeing the hands and feet, I understood that it was a human being, I I then made the 17”Christophe testified at the time in our newspaper.
Our reporter writes that “the identity and circumstances of his death remain a mystery” and that the autopsy “does not allow us to exclude any hypothesis, accidental or criminal”. Disturbing detail revealed at the time: the unfortunate woman was discovered naked, wearing only… socks. “Socks oddly not worn at all, as if she had just put them on or as if they had been left there or thrown from a car”our journalist still wrote at the time.
The mystery of the “Jean & Nelly” alliance
Flight or disappearance from a specialized establishment or retirement home, desperate act, murder? Despite very important all-out investigations, the criminal brigade of the Judicial Police never identified the unfortunate woman or resolved the investigation.
This is what has led Interpol today to relaunch the case with its call for witnesses and to provide more details to try to identify him. Cornerstone for his identification: the rare personal effects found on the victim, in this case jewelry.
The unfortunate woman wore a wedding ring on her left ring finger. “A gold wedding ring engraved with laurel leaves on the outside and “Jean and Nelly 06/25/1960” on the inside”, details the “black notice”. Two other pieces of jewelry were also found: a gold ring with a blue stone and another gold ring with a red stone. “They were made between 1940 and 1960, probably in Italy or Türkiye.”
Other physical details are disclosed by Interpol: she was 1m60 tall, had white skin, gray hair and was of heavy build. Also, she had suffered a “left hip arthroplasty”.
While waiting for a hypothetical element likely to relaunch the investigation, the mystery of the naked stranger of the Grande Corniche remains.
“Maybe her name isn’t Nelly. After all, maybe it’s a loved one’s wedding ring, a piece of jewelry she bought or found or slipped on her finger to cover our tracks, we can imagine everything.” an investigator who participated in the investigations commented at the time.
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