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In Amsterdam’s red light district, a hologram of a woman sits behind a window.
He looks at the passers-by, then seems to knock on the window and breathes on the glass. The glass seemed to fog up and the word “help” appeared.
This hologram is modeled after Bernadett “Betty” Szabó, a 19-year-old Hungarian sex worker who was murdered in the Dutch capital in 2009.
Now, more than 15 years after her death, police are hoping to uncover new information about her murder.
Szabó grew up in poverty in the Hungarian town of Nyíregyháza, before moving to Amsterdam when she was 18 and starting work as a sex worker, Dutch police said in a statement.
She quickly became pregnant, but continued to work throughout the pregnancy, and gave birth to her son in November 2008.
Three months later, she was found dead in her study, lying in a pool of blood. She was stabbed “dozens of times,” Dutch police said.
Despite an extensive investigation, which saw police monitor CCTV, interview witnesses and search the crime scene, the case eventually went cold.
The holographic representation of Szabó was created to reach those who may know something about her murder but have not reported when it happened.
“It is difficult to determine what it would take for potential witnesses in this case to share their information with us,” Benjamin van Gogh, coordinator of the Amsterdam Team for Wanted and Missing Persons, said in a statement.
“The Betty hologram can create a certain bond with her and thus convince the person to come forward. In cases like this we always try to put a face on the victim, so the informants know who they are doing it for, and the hologram is a way to take this a step further.”
Police have discussed the campaign with Szabó’s family, van Gogh said, adding that they are “committed to doing this with dignity and with the clear purpose of achieving some form of justice for Betty by finding her killer or killers.”
Eline Roovers, a spokeswoman for the Amsterdam police, told CNN that “it’s never too late to talk.”
“Research shows that people who commit a crime like this tend to tell multiple people – 2.2 people to be exact – about what they did. That means there must be people who know more about Betty’s death,” she said.
The reward for information related to the case has been increased to 30,000 euros (approximately $48,700).
Tourists come to Amsterdam from all over the world, Roovers pointed out, so the police are calling on those who visited the city in February 2009 to come forward if they know anything more about this case.
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