What happened to 31-year-old Trine Frantzen has been one of the biggest crime mysteries in Norway for almost 20 years. In May 2004, she disappeared without a trace after a party at Øvsttun in Bergen. But now the disappearance case may be approaching a new clarification. Last autumn, the Cold Case group of Kripos took hold of the case file and looked through the case with “new and fresh eyes”. The Kripos section will contribute to solving several unsolved cases in Norway. They were the ones who recommended the reopening of the Birgitte Tengs case in 2016. This summer they delivered the final report in the Trine Frantzen case to an excited Bergen police. – Here they carefully review how they have worked and what they have looked for in the case. At the end of the report, they come up with some recommendations. We must return to what they advise, says police inspector Tore Salvesen in the West police district. DISAPPEARANCE: Trine Frantzen (31) was last seen at a party in Øvsttun in May 2004. Photo: HANDOUT / SCANPIX – Findings must be made Salvesen will not give a single detail about the contents of the final report from the Cold Case group, but says that recommendations from Kripos’ other can be to “do a lot, a little or nothing”. The Bergen Police has invited Kripos to a meeting in October. There, together, they will thoroughly go through the investigative advice from the Cold Case group. – What do you hope to get out of that meeting? – Our hope and goal is to find new things to restart the investigation with, so that we can find Trine Frantzen. But we are completely dependent on finding her in order to progress in the investigation, says Salvesen. It is the person responsible for prosecuting the case who ultimately decides whether the report from the Cold Case is of such importance that the Frantzen case is reopened. 13 GRAVES: After searching with georadar, the police decided to dig for Trine Frantzen in a graveyard in Øvsttun. The theory is that Frantzen was hidden here after being killed. A total of 13 graves were examined. Photo: Eivind Fondenes / news Criticism-worthy investigation The investigation by the Bergen police in May 2004 has received a lot of criticism. For several weeks, the disappearance was treated as a “missing case”. Only after three months did the police open a murder investigation. Then a lot of important evidence was gone. In 2007, Frantzen’s former roommate was arrested and charged with murder, but the case was dropped due to a lack of evidence. The roommate denied having anything to do with Frantzen’s disappearance and the police later admitted that they had a focused investigation against the man. But Trine Frantzen has thus never been found. One of the theories in the case has been that the 31-year-old, who belonged to a drug scene, was killed with an overdose of drugs and then buried. WITHOUT FINDING: The excavation for Frantzen at the Øvsttun cemetery was fruitless. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news Have not given up New information about this led the police to take the sensational step of digging in a cemetery at Øvsttun in Bergen in the spring of 2019. But the search and digging in a total of 13 graves was fruitless. Nevertheless, Salvesen has never given up on getting an answer to the 18-year-old crime mystery. – As long as we have clues and get something to look for, we will continue. He calls the meeting with the Cold Case group in October important. – After reading the final report from Kripos, are you more or less certain about a reopening of the case? – I haven’t gone in and made an assessment on it myself, yet. I want to wait until I hear the thoughts behind the recommendations they have made.
ttn-69
The Bergen police have received secret Cold Case advice in the Trine Frantzen case – news Vestland
