A woman whose body was discovered in France more than two decades ago has finally been identified, leading to the arrest of a suspect in her murder. The victim, Hakima Boukerouis, is the fifth woman to be named through an international police campaign known as Operation Identify Me.
The Discovery and Initial Investigation
Boukerouis's body, bound and wrapped in bin bags, was found in a rainwater barrel in Saint-Quirin, a village in northeastern France, on January 7, 2005. According to an Interpol 'black notice,' the barrel had been seen floating in the Red Saar River, about two miles north of the village, in October 2004. For years, investigators were unable to identify the victim, who became known as 'The woman with the Richmond dental crown' due to her expensive dental work.
Breakthrough Through Familial DNA
The breakthrough came when the victim was identified using familial DNA searching, Interpol announced yesterday. Boukerouis was aged between 35 and 47, though French news outlet TF1 reported she was a 34-year-old from Algeria. Her four children had long assumed that their mother had abandoned them, according to their family lawyer, Alexandre Bouthier. They were minors at the time of her disappearance.
Bouthier told Radio France: 'More than 20 years later, they come knocking on their door to tell them, “Listen, now we have the explanation: your mother is dead. She was found in a barrel and hadn’t been identified.” In other words, we were aware of a body, but we couldn’t identify it at the time.'
Arrest of the Suspect
Boukerouis's husband was reportedly arrested in June 2025 on suspicion of ordering her killing. Bouthier continued: 'Today, we’ve been able to do so through DNA, and it is indeed your mother and your father appears to be involved in this murder.' The suspect was released under judicial supervision three months later due to his age and health. Prosecutors declined to provide an update on the case.
Operation Identify Me
Detectives had long suspected the victim was from Eastern Europe or Russia, 'due to the many young Russian women who were present in the area at the time,' the Interpol notice stated. Operation Identify Me aims to identify women who have been murdered or died in suspicious or unexplained circumstances. Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said: 'This identification underscores how important it is to keep investigating unresolved cold cases. As part of the Identify Me campaign, the efforts of the French authorities have helped identify a murder victim whose case had remained open for many years.'
