Mystery Endures Over Girl's Death in Picturesque Town

The locals, at least those who were around in 1990, still remember the day the body of the girl with the "angelic" face was found in the small Spanish town of Portbou on the Mediterranean. The circumstances explain why: As Giles Tremlett writes in the Guardian, she was found hanging from a pine tree near the local cemetery.

• "It looked very much like a suicide, but there were many questions. First, how had she managed to climb the tree, tie a knot and position herself, in the middle of the night, without leaving marks on her feet or body? Then, above all, who was she?"

Tremlett's story on the mystery recounts how some key answers have arrived in the decades since. A TV show about the case in 2022 finally led to the identity of the body as Evi Rauter of Italy, who was 19 when she disappeared. But still unanswered is whether she took her own life—the forensic doctor in the case insists it would have been impossible—or whether she was killed. Rauter's older sister, Cristina, continues to hold hope that somebody will come forward with answers, perhaps someone who saw her on a train or hitchhiking. "Maybe, before dying, they will think they have to say something," she says. Read the full story. (If you or someone you know is struggling, please call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.)