Isdal Woman
On 29 November 1970, a man and his two daughters were hiking near Bergen in south-west Norway. The area was known as Isdalen (Ice Valley) or sometimes as Death Valley, due to history of suicides and accidents that took place there. What they found on that day became the biggest mystery in Norway, but also one of the most puzzling mysteries in the world.
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Events connected to Isdal Woman
Discovery of Isdal Woman
From the beginning Bergen Police was suspicious about the circumstance of that death - the front of the body was severely burned, partially charred, while there was no sign of any campfire nearby. At the same time there were several items near the body that had signs of being affected by fire. Among...
Discovery of suitcases
Three days after discovery of the body of Isdal Woman police had the first breakthrough - two suitcases belonging to her were discovered at Bergen railway station. Inside, among other items, they found: - clothing, - shoes, - wigs, - makeup, - eczema cream, - 135 Norwegian kroner, Belgian, Bri...
Isdal Woman facts
The investigation
Police launched large investigation hoping to learn identity of Isdal Woman and how she ended up on the Ice Valley. The sketch was prepared of what she might have looked like when she was alive and that picture was distributed in Norwegian media. Soon staff of Hotel Hordaheimen in Bergen recognized ...
The other investigation
Police investigation into identity of Isdal Woman was, up to a point, influenced by other investigation that took place, the one that was conducted by Norwegian counter-intelligence unit. In 1970 Cold War was at its height and plenty of spies were trying to give their side advantage in case of open ...
The modern investigation
In 2018 Norwegian NRK and British BBC journalists published a podcast series titled Death in Ice Valley, in which they not only reviewed the evidence, but also found new leads and new experts that could shed some light on the Isdal Woman case. One of the most important discoveries that they made ...
Isdal Woman theories
A Soviet spy
Due to her unusual movement patterns all over Norway, her clear schedule in notepad, fact that she was seen talking to a naval officer close to the Penguin missile trials, changing identity and appearance Isdal Woman was of course suspected of being a Soviet spy. Facts that are supporting the the...
A German spy
While it is unlikely that she was a Soviet spy, other European countries of course had their own intelligence networks, so it is not impossible that she was an agent, but not Soviet one. In her case the possible country she worked for would be communist East Germany. She could have been a German age...
A prostitute
Isdal Woman was traveling from hotel to hotel, was seen meeting men, those meetings (at least one of them in her hotel room) did not seemed like they were meetings of friends - all of that created another theory, that she was a prostitute. Hotel staff described her as good looking, rather tall, she ...
A spy network courier
While parts of the story surrounding Isdal Woman make the spy theory unlikely, there is an interesting spin on that version of event - she could have been a courier for spy network. Facts that are supporting the theory: - she had resources to travel freely for months, - she was cha...
Elaborate suicide theory
Police investigation was closed with conclusion that Isdal Woman committed suicide and from that point it can be extended that all that happened before was just a part of elaborate suicide. Facts that are supporting the theory: - the men she met in hotels could be, in a way, part of t...
A fraudster
The Isdal Woman as a fraudster is one of the theories that on surface checks all of the boxes, but it is not that simple. Facts that are supporting the theory: - the men she met in hotels could have been people she was trying to defraud or her accomplices, - her travel patterns wer...
Mental problems theory
Mental problems have been mentioned as possible explanation to what Isdal Woman was doing before her death, although there are no solid evidence to support that thesis. Facts that are supporting the theory: - changing appearance, hotels, rooms, being on the guard, all of it suggest so...
Personal problems
Personal problems that lead to suicide is a theory that raise some points, although just like with other theories we know too little about Isdal Woman to determine how valid those arguments are. Facts that are supporting the theory: - no one came forward to identify her, so she had no...
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