Was She A Cold War Spy? The Case of the Isdal Woman (Episode #36)

Mysterious Pals

On November 29, 1970, a father and his two daughters were hiking in Norway’s Isdalen Valley when they came upon a grim discovery: the body of a deceased woman. Unable to identify her, authorities dubbed her the "Isdal Woman". Found near her were various items, including jewelry, a watch, bottles with labels scraped off, and clothes with removed labels. Subsequent investigation uncovered suitcases containing similarly unlabeled items, along with a coded piece of paper. Though the autopsy revealed she had ingested 50-70 sleeping pills, leading to a ruling of suicide, suspicions of murder persisted among some police and the public. The woman's extensive travels, use of fake aliases, and purported eyewitness accounts fueled speculation that she may have been a Cold War spy. The mystery of her identity and demise remains unsolved.

MUSIC

• Theme Music by Dethlehem (dethlehem.bandcamp.com)

SOCIAL LINKS

• Website: www.mysteriouspals.com
• Email: [e-mail]
• Youtube: @MysteriousPals
• Facebook: @mysteriouspals
• Instagram: @mysteriouspals
• X/Twitter: @mysterious_pals
• Podcast Feeds: www.mysteriouspals.com

EPISODE RESOURCES

• Gyr, Marcel. “The Isdal Woman: An Explosive New Lead Points to a Swiss Banker.” Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 12 June 2023, www.nzz.ch/english/new-leads-in-unsolved-1970-death-lead-to-nazi-allied-swiss-banker-ld.1741613.
• ‌Cheung, Helier. “Isdal Woman: The Mystery Death Haunting Norway for 46 Years.” BBC News, 12 May 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39369429.
• ‌Dimuro, Gina. “Coded Messages, Fake Passports, and a Charred Corpse: Inside the Mysterious Death of the Isdal Woman.” All That’s Interesting, 23 Dec. 2022, allthatsinteresting.com/isdal-woman.
• ‌Ferrarin, Elena. “The Isdal Woman Cold Case: Mystery over Her Identity Endures over 50 Years.” A&E, www.aetv.com/real-crime/isdal-woman.
• ‌“Isdal Woman.” Wikipedia, 28 Apr. 2024, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isdal_Woman#.

ABOUT THE MYSTERIOUS PALS

The Mysterious Pals is a mysterious show about history and friendship.

#mystery, #history, #Norway, #ColdWar, #spy, #espionage, #crime, #coldcase, #unsolved