A breakthrough in a decades-old mystery has been achieved through Interpol’s global initiative, ‘Operation Identify Me.’ The body of a woman discovered in Spain over 20 years ago has been identified as 31-year-old Russian citizen Liudmila Zavada. This marks the third successful identification under the campaign, which aims to uncover the identities of women who died under suspicious or unexplained circumstances across Europe. Launched in 2023, the initiative has already identified two other women: a British woman murdered in Belgium and a Paraguayan woman found dead in Spain. Liudmila Zavada, known as ‘the woman in pink’ due to her attire, was found in July 2005 near Barcelona. Despite initial investigations, her identity remained unknown until Turkish police matched her fingerprints to a national database, leading to a DNA confirmation with a relative in Russia. Interpol’s Secretary General, Valdecy Urquiza, hailed the identification as a source of ‘fresh hope’ for families of missing persons and a potential breakthrough for investigators. The campaign has also highlighted the challenges posed by global migration and human trafficking, which complicate the identification of bodies found outside their countries of origin. Interpol officials noted that women are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence, including domestic abuse, sexual assault, and trafficking. The agency continues to seek the identities of 44 other women found dead across Europe, most of whom are believed to be murder victims aged between 15 and 30.