Life-size hologram of murdered sex worker used to try and solve cold case

A life-size hologram of a sex worker who was murdered 15 years ago is set to be put on display to try and catch her murderer.

Bernadett ‘Betty’ Szabo, 19, was stabbed multiple times in Amsterdam, on February 19, 2009, and was ‘brutally murdered in her workplace’.

She had also given birth to a baby boy just three months prior to her murder.

Two colleagues noticed she wasn’t in her normal spot on the night she was killed on the Oudezijds Achterburgwal so decided to check in on her.

She was found in a pool of blood when they arrived at her workspace.

A major investigation was launched which involved speaking to witnesses and reviewing CCTV after her body was found.

The case went cold when police were unable to solve it.

The life-size hologram is ‘the final attempt to find the perpetrator’ and will be projected behind a window at an intersection close to where Ms Szabo was killed from today.

Screens will also show footage of the crime scene and large window stickers will provide information about Ms Szabo and her death.

Amsterdam Police hope it will ‘help people feel a connection to her’ and encourage them to come forward.

It is the first time the police force have used a life-size hologram and it is unclear whether any other police force around the world has done the same.

Eline Roovers, communications adviser for Amsterdam Police, told Sky News the force is in ‘close contact’ with Ms Szabo’s family and they have given their ‘approval and faith’ to start this part of the investigation.

She said: ‘They really appreciate our efforts and see this as a hopeful sign that justice might still be able to prevail.’

She added that it is never too late for people to come forward and said people who commit a crime usually tell multiple people.

Ms Roovers said this means people might be more likely to open up years later if mutual relationships have changed.

Ms Szabo moved to Amsterdam from Hungary when she was 18 in 2008 and became a sex worker in the city’s red light district.

Anne Dreijer-Heemskerk from 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.’

She added that Ms Szabo was murdered in one of the busiest spots in the city and it is hard to believe no one saw or heard anything.

Police are keen to hear from anybody who may have been visiting the red light district at the time – an area which is popular with tourists from across the world.

There is a £25,000 (€30,000) reward for anybody who may have information about the murder of Ms Szabo.

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