Rita Roberts: The Woman with the Flower Tattoo Finally Gets Her Name Back

Accident – Death – Obituary News : For three decades, the body of a young woman lay undiscovered, far from the streets of Cardiff where she was known as a vibrant and kind-hearted individual. Earlier this year, a groundbreaking cross-border operation finally gave her an identity – the woman with the flower tattoo. This operation involved police teams across three European countries and Interpol, as they sought to solve her murder and that of 21 others.

Now, this young woman has her real name back. The woman with the flower tattoo, whose body was found near a grate in an Antwerp river in 1992, has been identified as Rita Roberts, a 31-year-old from the Grangetown area of Cardiff. Her last known contact with her British family was a postcard she sent shortly before she was brutally stabbed to death.

With Rita’s true identity revealed, her family and friends can finally mourn her loss, and her story can begin to be told. Additionally, the Belgian police will continue their investigation in the hopes of finding new leads that may lead them to her killer.

François-Xavier Laurent, Interpol’s DNA database manager, expressed his relief at providing closure to at least one of the 22 families involved in Operation Identify Me. Laurent stated, “More than anything, we want to bring news, even if it’s sad news. I don’t think there’s anything worse than just waiting to get some information.” He acknowledged that although it took 31 years to uncover what happened to Rita, her family is grateful to finally have answers and can begin their grieving process.

Operation Identify Me was launched in May by the Belgian, Dutch, and German police, along with Interpol. They released details of the cases, typically only available to law enforcement agencies, and gave them catchy nicknames to generate public interest. The case of the woman with the flower tattoo was among those highlighted. Her body was discovered in the river near a sports and concert venue on June 3, 1992. Due to the length of time she had been in the water, her age could only be estimated as between 20 and 50. She had suffered at least one stab wound and had a distinctive tattoo on her left forearm – a black rose with green leaves and the name “R’Nick” underneath.

Despite appealing for help at the time, her identity remained unknown, and the trail for her killer went cold. However, in May of this year, Operation Identify Me received a breakthrough. A relative of Rita Roberts saw the image of her tattoo on a news website and alerted the authorities. It was revealed that Roberts had moved from Cardiff to Antwerp in February 1992, and after sending her family a postcard in May of the same year, she was never heard from again.

François-Xavier Laurent explained that the information provided by Roberts’ family immediately stood out, as it contained details that were not made public. He emphasized that it would be unfair to blame the Belgian police for not identifying Roberts sooner, as technology and collaboration between countries were not as advanced in the early 1990s.

After six months of investigation, the police felt confident enough to publicly announce Rita Roberts’ identity this week. Her siblings, who are based in Cardiff and the north-east of England, released a statement expressing their gratitude for finally uncovering what happened to their sister. They described Roberts as a beautiful person who loved to travel.

Friends of Roberts from Cardiff joined in the tributes, remembering her as a fabulous person who was tough but kind-hearted. They expressed their disbelief and sorrow that she died in such a tragic manner.

Details of Roberts’ life before her murder have also emerged. She was born in 1960 and lived near the docks, which was known to be a challenging neighborhood at the time. Newspaper archives do not mention her disappearance, but court records indicate that a woman named Rita Roberts, matching her description, had made appearances in court in the 1980s and in November 1991, just a few months before she traveled to Belgium.

The Antwerp public prosecutor’s office confirmed that Roberts had lived in the city for a few months and was never reported missing to the Belgian police. They also stated that she had likely not been the victim of a sexual assault. Her body remained in Antwerp, and the prosecutor’s office revealed that they were aware of her criminal record before disclosing her name.

According to a report from the University of Portsmouth’s Centre for the Study of Missing Persons, an average of 600 people from the UK go missing abroad each year. Martha McBrier, the helplines manager for the charity Missing People, praised the work of Operation Identify Me, emphasizing that not knowing what happened to a loved one is incredibly difficult for families.

As Rita Roberts’ family mourns her loss, they also remember the other families involved in Operation Identify Me. They hope that these families can also find closure and be reunited with their missing loved ones..