Hologram of murdered prostitute haunts Amsterdam’s Red Light District pleading for help finding her killer
A murdered Dutch prostitute is haunting Amsterdam’s famed Red Light District from beyond the grave — pleading with passers-by for help finding her killer.
Bernadett “Betty” Szabó, 19, was a new mother who was stabbed “dozens of times” and left in a pool of her own blood in the Dutch capital in 2009.
Now cops are using a hologram of her to get the word out about her case and ask for clues.
The hologram with Betty’s likeness peers out behind glass for johns and tourists alike to see. She then breathes on the glass, fogging it up to reveal the simple message, “Help.”
Benjamin van Gogh, coordinator of the Amsterdam Wanted and Missing Persons Team, said police have hopes that the hologram, the first of its kind in the city, could shame people who know what happened to Betty to reach out to police after 15 years of silence.
“Betty’s hologram may create a certain connection with her and thus convince a person to come forward,” van Gogh said in a statement. “In this type of case, we always try to put a face on a victim, so that informants know who they’re doing it for, and the hologram is a way of taking this a step further.”
Police officials said the hologram was made with the consent of Szabó’s family, with authorities “committed to doing this with dignity and with the clear purpose of achieving some form of justice for Betty by finding her murderer or murderers.”
Szabó, of Hungary, left for Amsterdam when she was just 18, finding work as a prostitute in the Red Light District, which she continued despite getting pregnant.
Szabó disappeared on Feb. 19, 2009, three months after giving birth, with two of her colleagues first suspecting she “might have had a bad day or might have gone home early,” police say.
When they went searching for Szabó, they discovered the grisly crime scene in her “workroom.”
Anne Dreijer-Heemskerk, a member of the Cold Case Team, said Szabó’s story was particularly haunting, as it took place in the heart of one of Amsterdam’s busiest areas.
“A young girl, just turned 19, who was robbed of her life in a horrible way. And who didn’t have an easy life before she died,” Dreijer-Heemskerk said.
“She worked long hours as a sex worker and kept working until just before she gave birth to her son,” she added. “We hope witnesses who may have been afraid before or kept silent for other reasons now have the courage to come forward.”
Along with the hologram, police have set up large stickers, posters and television screens with information on the case across the Red Light District.
Authorities also raised the reward for information related to the case to $32,000.
