Body of ‘The Woman With The Flower Tattoo’ finally identified 31 years later

A WOMAN has been identified 31 years after her body was found in Belgium. She was previously referred to as ‘the woman with the flower tattoo’ due to her unknown identity. 

Rita Roberts was only 31 years old in 1992 when she took the leap to move to Antwerp, Belgium from her hometown of Cardiff in Wales. She sent a postcard to her family shortly after arriving in the May of that year, after which they never heard from her again. 

Her body was then found the following month in a river showing signs of violence, but was never identified, leaving the family wondering for over three decades what had happened to their beloved Rita.

The details of what happened to Ms Roberts were finally revealed to her family through a campaign launched earlier this year, called ‘Operation Identify Me’. The campaign was the first time that Interpol had gone public seeking information about unidentified bodies. 

It was reported that a member of Rita’s family saw the appeal and realised there may be a possibility that she had come to harm. After recognising the flower tattoo in a photo, her family met with investigators in Belgium and formally identified the body. 

In a statement released by Interpol, the family said that the news was “shocking and heartbreaking”, adding that, “our passionate, loving and free-spirited sister was cruelly taken away, and whilst the news has been difficult to process, we are incredibly grateful to have uncovered what happened to Rita.”