14 Facts About Isdal Woman

The Isdal Woman is a placeholder name given to an unidentified woman who was found dead at Isdalen in Bergen, Norway, on 29 November 1970.

Isdal Woman often told hotel staff that she was a travelling saleswoman and antiquities dealer.

Isdal Woman's ceremony was photographed in case relatives came forward at a later date.

Isdal Woman had met the relative of a Bergen Vinmonopolet warehouse clerk while on a visit to Gvarv.

Isdal Woman appeared resigned and seemed about to say something to him but did not.

Isdal Woman went to someone he knew at the police to report this, but was told to forget about it.

In 2016, the case was reopened, and NRK commissioned the American artist Stephen Missal to create six alternative sketches of the Isdal Woman, which were shown to people who had seen her.

In 2018, NRK and the BBC World Service published a podcast series titled Death in Ice Valley, which included interviews with eyewitnesses and forensic scientists, suggesting that the Isdal Woman's birthplace may have been southern Germany or the French-German border region, and that she was likely born c 1930.

Isdal Woman seems to have had a French passport based on the fact that an unidentified French national was registered on one of the flights she took to Norway.

Isdal Woman argued that another person was likely at the crime scene when she died, based on evidence from the scene and her medically intoxicated condition in the hours before her death.

Isdal Woman said there were arguments that supported the death being either murder or assisted suicide, and believed murder to be most likely.

Isdal Woman pretended to be about 26 years old but often dressed herself up to look younger, and refused to share any personal details.

Isdal Woman is said to have often received scheduled phone calls from abroad.

Isdal Woman had pilfered a photograph of the woman riding a horse.