A woman whose body was discovered in Spain more than 20 years ago has been identified through an international police campaign.
The woman was named on Thursday as 31-year-old Russian citizen Liudmila Zavada.
She is the third person to be identified through the Operation Identify Me initiative, launched by police in 2023 to uncover the identities of women who died under suspicious circumstances in Europe.
Valdecy Urquiza, secretary general of Interpol, expressed that this identification provides fresh hope to the families and friends of missing persons and offers new leads to investigators.
Ms. Zavada's body was found in July 2005 near a road in Barcelona, dressed entirely in pink, which led police to refer to her as the woman in pink. The cause of death was deemed suspicious, with indications suggesting the body was moved shortly before its discovery.
The operation includes a coordinated effort to share records like fingerprints globally. Turkish authorities matched her fingerprints using a national database, leading to her identity being confirmed via DNA with a close relative in Russia.
Interpol continues to investigate the circumstances around Liudmila Zavada's death while also focusing on identifying 44 other women found dead under similar mysterious situations in Europe, emphasizing the disproportionate impact of violence against women in the region.
