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Disappearance of Therese Johannessen

Therese Johannessen disappeared without a trace from her home in Fjell, Drammen on 3 July 1988. She disappeared after going to a nearby kiosk to buy sweets.[1] Therese Johannessen has never been found, despite many search operations and police investigations.[2] In Norway, the disappearance of Therese Johannessen is sometimes called the Therese case (Norwegian: Therese-saken).

Disappearance of Therese Johannessen
Disappeared3 July 1988
Fjell, Drammen, Norway
StatusMissing for 37 years, 11 months and 21 days.
Other namesThe Therese case (Norwegian: Therese-saken)
Distinguishing featuresDark hair
Investigating agencyDrammen Police
ContactTips

The police think that the disappearance is a criminal case. In 1998, Swede Thomas Quick was convicted in the case after confessing to kidnapping and killing the nine-year-old.[3] Quick later retracted the confession,[4] and the Swedish Prosecution Authority overturned the sentence in March 2011.[5][6][7] The case has been re-investigated many times, most recently in 2013. In July 2013, 25 years after the disappearance, the case was no longer being considered because of the then 25-year time limit for serious criminal cases.[8] No perpetrator will be punished in the case.

In 2020, NRK showed a series about the Therese case called "transl. Therese - the girl who disappeared". It was made by Monster Media.[9]

The disappearance

On the evening of Sunday, 3 July 1988, nine-year-old Therese Johannesen (born 1978) was playing outside where she lived, in Fjell, Drammen. She played with three friends and her little sister. At 19:25 it started to rain and Therese got an umbrella.[10] The other children she was playing with wanted to stop at the kiosk she was at earlier in the day. The woman who worked at the kiosk saw Therese earlier, when she bought cola with money she got from her grandparents.[2] The children asked Therese to join them at the kiosk, but she wanted to wait for them. When they returned, Therese was gone.[1] This is the last confirmed sighting of the nine-year-old.[11] Therese Johannesen was then wearing a white t-shirt, denim skirt, striped socks, and gray shoes.[12]

When the nine-year-old did not come home, the family started looking, and eventually the police were called.[13] Crews from the Red Cross and Civil Defense helped search using helicopters and other equipment, but the girl remained missing. Eventually, the police started to consider the disappearance a criminal case. The police's main theory is that Therese was kidnapped and later killed.

The case attracted a lot of attention in Norway after the disappearance. Over one hundred police officers from the Drammen Police and Kripos helped investigate.[14] It was the most expensive and thorough investigation in Norway at the time. In the first year after the disappearance, the police questioned 1,721 people, and they got 4,646 tips from people. They also had lists of 10,640 people, 4,415 vehicles, and 13,685 movements of people and cars.[15] The police have not found a single trace of the girl, or any suspect.

Thomas Quick

After one year of investigation, the police scaled back the case, but never closed it fully. In 1996, the apparent Swedish serial killer Thomas Quick admitted to kidnapping and killing the girl in Drammen. The confession led to the police resuming the investigation. They started an extensive search for Therese in the pound Ringen near Mysen in Østfold. After emptying the pond, the police found what they thought was burnt remains from the missing nine-year-old. The remains later turned out to be wood chips.[16]

Quick was linked to the murder through his confession and the "remains", and on 2 June 1998 he was convicted of killing Therese Johannesen. Quick was convicted in six other trials of seven other murders.[3]

In an SVT documentary in 2008, Quick retracted the confession and wanted to be tried again.[4] He said he had read about the case in the newspaper VG, and he made up a story where he kidnapped and killed the girl.[17] In March 2011 the judgement was overturned.[5][6][7]

The case was also re-investigated, but on 3 July 2013, 25 years after she was last seen, the case became obsolete.[3][10][8] If the disappearance is found to be a case of murder, nobody would be prosecuted.[10] That same autumn, the police received a tip that Therese was abducted and killed in 1988, and the police shortly reopened the case, without result.

In 2017, the police decided that the Therese case should be transferred to the "cold case group", even though the case is already obsolete.[18][19]

Other

The Therese case has received a lot of media attention in Norway. It is one of the most famous unsolved criminal mysteries in the country.[20]

The case has also been linked to other similar disappearance cases, including the Marianne case from Risør in 1981.[21]

In November 2020, Therese Johannessen's DNA was found on an eraser and pilowcase.[22]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Therese-saken. NRK. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Haraldsen, Stian. Forfatter varsler nye spor i Therese-saken (in nb). NRK (1 November 2023). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Saugestad, Kjetil. En gåte at norsk politi svelget agnet! (in no). NRK (5 April 2014). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Robins, Jon. Thomas Quick: The serial killer who never was. The Justice Gap (2 February 2017). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jonassen, Arild. Therese ble sist med denne mannen (in no). Aftenposten (29 March 2011). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Rivrud, Kristin. Jag är i praktiken frikänd för mord (in sv). NRK (29 March 2011). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Fan, Ryan. The 'Serial Killer' Who Falsely Confessed to Over 30 Murders. Medium (27 August 2020). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Zondag, Martin. Bergwall til NRK - På tide at norsk politi sier unnskyld (in nb). NRK (4 April 2014). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  9. ↑ Therese - jenta som forsvant (in no). NRK. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Helljesen, Vilde. Thereses mor: - Jeg vil vite hva som har skjedd med barnet mitt (in nb). NRK (26 October 2013). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  11. ↑ Køsling, Ingvild-Anita. Svaret på Therese-gåten kan ligge i disse papirene (in nb). NRK (7 March 2018). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  12. ↑ Lamøy, Berith. Mamma venter fortsatt på svar: Hva skjedde med Therese? (in nb). Klikk (14 January 2024). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  13. ↑ Bjerkeseth, Anders. Moren til Therese vil aldri gi opp jakten på svar (in nb) (12 November 2014). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  14. ↑ Fjelly, Benedikte. Theresesaken: - Det var en av jentene våre som forsvant (in nb). NRK (3 July 2013). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  15. ↑ Bjønness-Jacobsen, O.J. (28 April 1998). "Tragedien Therese". Drammens Tidende. https://www.dt.no/nyheter/tragedien-therese/s/2-2.1748-1.2610650. 
  16. ↑ Beinrester var ikke fra et menneske (in nb). Nettavisen (18 March 2010). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  17. ↑ Karlsen, Ola. VG-notisen some utløste Quicks draps-fantasi (in no). ABC News (22 April 2010). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  18. ↑ Karlsen, Ola. Therese-saken overføres til Cold case-gruppa (in nb). ABC News (14 September 2017). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  19. ↑ Bråthen, Ingunn. Cold case-gruppa tar opp Therese-saken (in nb). NRK (14 September 2017). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  20. ↑ Andersen, Ulf. Disse barnedrapene har rystet Norge (in nb). Dagbladet (22 May 2000). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  21. ↑ Leder: Marianne-saken og Therese-saken er så like at de må behandles likt (in nb). Agderposten (4 December 2017). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  22. ↑ Thommessen, Louise. Har funnet Thereses DNA-profil på viskelær og putevar (in nb). NRK (7 November 2020). Retrieved 30 November 2024.
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