Who Was Rita Roberts? Woman Behind ‘Flower Tattoo’ Mystery Identified After 31 Years – News18

After 31 years of anonymity, the murder victim known as ‘the woman with the flower tattoo’ has been identified as Rita Roberts. This breakthrough comes thanks to Operation Identify Me—an international effort led by Belgian, Dutch, and German police in collaboration with INTERPOL.

Rita, brutally killed in 1992, had a distinctive black flower tattoo on her left forearm. The breakthrough came when a family member recognized the tattoo through a public appeal, leading to a formal identification and a poignant revelation about Rita’s life.

“The news was shocking and heartbreaking. Our passionate, loving and free-spirited sister was cruelly taken away. There are no words to truly express the grief we felt at that time, and still feel today,” the family of Rita Roberts said in a statement on November 14 published by Interpol.

“Whilst the news has been difficult to process, we are incredibly grateful to have uncovered what happened to Rita. We miss her deeply but are thankful for the excellent support and care of Belgium Missing Persons, Antwerp Police, INTERPOL and Durham Police in the UK. This cross-border collaboration has given a missing girl back her identity, and enabled the family to know she is at rest,” they added.

Who was Rita Roberts?

One of those cold cases, known as ‘the woman with the flower tattoo’, dated back to 3 June 1992, when a woman’s body was found against a grate in the water of the river ‘Groot Schijn’ near the Ten Eekhovelei in Antwerp, Belgium. She had been violently killed.

Her most striking physical feature was a flower tattoo on her left forearm of a black flower with green leaves and with ‘R’Nick’ written underneath. For three decades, the victim remained nameless. Having exhausted all possible leads and suspecting she may have come from another country, Belgian authorities submitted this case to Operation Identify Me, hoping the woman’s tattoo would jog someone’s memory.

How Rita Roberts was identified

Rita Roberts was 31 when she moved to Antwerp from Cardiff in February 1992, according to Antwerp public prosecutor’s office. She last communicated with her relatives via postcard in May 1992. She was around 1m70 in height and had a stout build. She was light-skinned and had mid-length dark hair.

Her teeth were in good condition. On her left forearm, she had a tattoo of a black flower with green leaves and ‘R’Nick’ written underneath. She wore a t-shirt (dark blue, purple and light green) with the inscription ‘SPLINTER’ and ‘1990’, dark blue Adidas training trousers with three green stripes and dark walking shoes, size 40, brand ‘DAG’.

On 10 May of this year, Operation Identify Me was launched, receiving significant coverage and generating some 1,250 tips from the public. A family member in the United Kingdom recognized the tattoo on the news and notified INTERPOL and Belgian authorities via the Identify Me appeal web page.

The family then travelled to meet with investigators in Belgium, and formally identified their missing relative through distinguishing personal identifiers. Thereafter, the Antwerp family court was petitioned to have the victim’s death certificate amended to reflect her identity.

‘Rita was a beautiful person’

Her family said that Rita was a beautiful person who adored travelling. “She loved her family, especially her nephews and nieces, and always wanted to have a family of her own. She had the ability to light up a room, and wherever she went, she was the life and soul of the party. We hope that wherever she is now, she is at peace,” they said.

The family has asked for the media not to contact them during their grieving process. “Now that her identity is known, Belgian authorities are calling on the public for any information they may have on Rita Roberts or the circumstances surrounding her death,” the Interpol statement read.