A teenage girl brutally stabbed to death by a migrant in a murder that has sent shockwaves through the Netherlands was a highly intelligent middle-class student who had recently graduated from high school, we can reveal.
Known only by her first name Lisa, the 17-year-old had been enjoying a night out in Amsterdam with her friends when she decided to ride her electric bike home to the small village of Abcoude.
Around halfway through her journey, she noticed a man was following her, causing her to call the police to alert them she was being stalked and harassed.
But tragically by the time Dutch police officers arrived at the well-trodden cycle path just after 4am, they found her body lying in a ditch, surrounded by water, with fatal stab wounds to her neck.
Within 48 hours a suspect was arrested at a refugee centre, a ten-minute walk from where she was found, held on suspicion of murder – and for the rape of another woman days earlier.
And while he has remained in custody for more than a week, Dutch detectives are stumped and still have no clue about his identity.
The suspect, believed to be in his 20s, is thought to be an illegal migrant who had not registered at the refugee hostel he was staying in.
Officers are now searching for any indication of the man’s name, age and country of origin, while scouring the river next to the hostel for potential clues.
Dutch police investigating the murder of a 17-year-old girl and sex attacks on two other women discovered a large knife tossed into a river outside the asylum seeker hostel
The suspected killer of 17-year-old Lisa caught on CCTV in Duivendrecht
A sea of flowers at the village church in memory of Lisa, who was found dead along Holterbergweg in Duivendrecht
Meanwhile, the village where Lisa grew up, just a 10-minute drive from the asylum centre, is in mourning for the talented teenager, known for her athletic ability.
For the residents of Abcoude, this week was meant to be one of celebration, with everybody coming together for its annual festival, which takes place in the last week of August.
But this year, the village has gathered in grief, with some aspects of Feestweek being cancelled or scaled back out of respect to Lisa and her family, whose surname we are choosing not to disclose.
As the festival got underway last night, a minute’s silence was held, with Lisa’s family, who are well known in the area, being ‘deeply moved … by the tremendous support of the entire village’.
A keen hockey player, Lisa had only recently passed her driving test and graduated from her high school Spinoza20first, which is a short walk away from where police found her last Wednesday.
The brunette student whose bubbly smile features in pictures on her parents’ Facebook pages, grew up in a close-knit family with her twin sister, both raised by their mother, a marketing manager, and their father who owns a software business.
‘Our hearts are broken,’ the family said in statement. ‘We hope we can mourn Lisa’s loss together in peace and privacy.
‘We are immensely supported by the love and sympathy from family, friends, and fellow villagers, and we want to express our gratitude for this.’
The suspect is an illegal unregistered migrant in his early 20s who was seized by a SWAT Team at a hostel for asylum seekers. Pictured: The A&0 hostel in Zuidoost
Close search officers, who have been working with sniffer dogs, pulled out what appeared to be a large, silver kitchen knife and an e-bike from the water
In the days since her senseless murder, friends have come forward to pay tribute to the teenager who loved sport and was renowned locally for her kindness.
She was well-known throughout the village working part time in its Chinese restaurant before moving to be a waitress at Cafe restaurant Bon in a neighbouring town.
Her days were often spent running and playing hockey and tennis with her friends.
As is common with many well-heeled youngsters in the Netherlands, many start playing hockey from a young age, with almost every town having its own club with hundreds of members.
Her local hockey club, HV Abcoude where Lisa spent a lot of time, wrote in tribute days ago: ‘Words fall short in the face of this unimaginable loss.
‘Lisa was a child of the club (most likely, the hockey club she belonged to – HVA) and her passing leaves a deep impression on all of us.
‘The grief is immense among everyone who knew her. Our thoughts are with the family, friends, former teammates and loved ones. We wish them all the strength, love and comfort in this intensely difficult time.’
One local added: ‘What happened to Lisa will probably have a deep and profound impact on the sense of safety and security of parents and girls.
Following her call with emergency services, the young woman was then brutally attacked just south of the secondary school she had recently graduated from, called Spinoza20first
A person bikes by an improvised memorial for 17-year-old Lisa from Abcoude, at Holterbergweg, where she was found dead, in Amsterdam
‘What is one of the most wholesome and normal things to see in the country – teenage girls out in their hockey outfits – will now trigger worry and even dream, especially for parents.’
Meanwhile the tennis club, where her whole family are active members of, mourned the loss of the ‘one of a kind’ girl who had ‘homegrown talent’.
In a tribute online, the Abcoude Lawn Tennis Club said, alongside a text reading Lisa, Forever 17: ‘The club, but also the whole of Abcoude, mourns the terrible event.
‘The Open Youth Tournament, which started this week, was overshadowed by visible and tangible pain and grief. Deep respect for the young committee members.
‘Our thoughts are with the family, friends and all who love Lisa. The board, all members and volunteers of our association wish everyone much strength, love and courage in this difficult period.’
Hundreds of flowers have been piled up outside Dorpskerk protestant church in the town, along with letters to Lisa’s family and from her close friends.
Her death has impacted thousands and thousands of people across the Netherlands, and beyond.
As a mother, who has four children including two daughters, put it: ‘Lisa lived in the suburbs, the same as my family and children, who go all over the place on their bikes.
Police are investigating the scene where a 17-year-old girl was found dead along a roadside in Duivendrecht
The suspect is currently detained in custody and will remain there for at least another two weeks
‘I have two boys and two girls and this is a free country. I want them to be able to travel around and I want my girls to be able to have the same freedoms as their brothers.
‘The girls want equal rights so they walk, they cycle, they jog and they go to the Leidseplein to hang out with their friends like Lisa did.’
She added: ‘Like most women, and I assume it is the same in England, I’ve got a backpack full of bad experiences and it is really, really sad.
‘There is a problem with safety for girls but no one seems to care. All they ask is why is a girl out cycling or blame the parents but they should be able to, they have the right to be safe.
‘It is a problem for all of us and we should all, including men, be concerned.’
Next to the cycle path Lisa was travelling home down on the Holterbergweg, another memorial has been set up with hundreds of flowers, teddy bears and hand written notes.
Over the past week, hundreds of women, men and teenagers have stopped to pay their respects to Lisa – often tearful, in disbelief something so cruel could happen to an innocent girl.
Flowers in memory of the 17-year-old girl who was found dead along a roadside in Duivendrecht
On Sunday, around 500 people participated in a March Against Femicide in Rotterdam in the wake of Lisa’s death, carrying signs such as ‘She had dreams, no grave needed’ and ‘Not all men, but always men’
A girl, similar to Lisa who travels up and down the road each day, said: ‘It’s really painful to see this. It could have been me.
‘I never thought this could happen on a road I always take for transport. It is scary that she was in Amsterdam before that and it worries me that she was followed.
‘I will try not to go outside after midnight now to try and keep safe. I don’t think the police are doing enough, especially in this case. Why didn’t they get here early enough and why don’t we know more?’
Another woman, who knows Lisa’s family, added: ‘We really feel it in the town. I was cycling here the same evening, at 9pm, but I do it all the time, cycling late and I don’t think about it.
‘I never thought about it being a dark place to cycle but we shouldn’t have to. She was 17.’
As time goes on, what is of growing concern to residents living around the suburb of Abcoude a 30-minute bike ride from the capital, is that despite having a man in custody, detectives have no idea who he is.
He is believed to have come to the country from Nigeria, but this has not been confirmed by officials.
He was held last Thursday but police have been unable to find any official identity documents and in interviews the suspect has reportedly given conflicting accounts of how he came to be in Holland, including giving more than one date and country of birth.
Lisa’s family have asked for her surname and photograph not to be circulated publicly as they grieve the loss of the 17 year old
The teenager, named Lisa, was cycling to her home in the suburbs in the early hours after a night out in Amsterdam when she realised she was being followed and called the police. Pictured: Police search the waterside next to the building
A spokesman for The Public Prosecution Office confirmed: ‘The suspect’s identity has not yet been established.
‘We therefore cannot provide any information about his nationality. We believe he is around 20 years old.’
He is being held on suspicion of Lisa’s murder and the rape of a second woman. He is also being investigated for the attempted sexual assault of a third woman.
The case has caused public horror in the Netherlands where thousands of protesters turned out on the streets for a demonstration to ‘reclaim the night’ and to stop violence against women.
It comes at a crucial time for politics in the Netherlands – with voters leaning to the right over the issue of illegal migration.
Hard-right nationalists have been accused of taking advantage of the tragedy as Dutch elections approach at the end of October.
Geert Wilders, the leader of the Freedom Party (PVV), has pledged to close the country to all asylum seekers.
Immediately after her killing, he tweeted: ‘Every day more misery. Murder, rape, violence.’
Police are searching for two people captured on CCTV who may have witnessed the attack on Lisa on August 20: a scooter rider (left) and the occupants of a Biro microcar (right)
He said: ‘That poor 17-year-old girl was murdered by someone staying in a COA center.
‘People in the Netherlands are fed up with this. Unfortunately, it could happen to anyone in the Netherlands. It mustn’t happen again.’
But far-right Wilders’ political opponents, including from the D66 social liberalist party, accused him of trying to cash in on the tragedy.
And while the political fallout over immigration will continue to wage on, sadly for Lisa’s family any change has happened too late and they are now preparing to bury their daughter in a private ceremony in the coming weeks.
