Italian woman found hanged in Spain was identified only after 32 years

PORTBOU, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 4, 1990 In the town of Portbou in northeastern Spain, the body of 19-year-old Evi Anna Rauter, then still an unidentified girl, was found. She was hanging from a pine tree near the local cemetery, in a place clearly visible from a large part of the town. She had no identification documents or personal belongings that could help with identification. Spanish authorities quickly closed the case as suicide, and the girl was buried as unknown.

It later turned out that she was Evi Anna Rauter, a young Italian woman from Lana. The day before her death, she was in Florence with her sister. She left a note saying she would take a trip to Siena, which is relatively close to Florence. Instead, within a single day, she ended up nearly 1,000 kilometers away in Portbou on the Spanish-French border. To this day, it is unclear how she got there – by train, car, hitchhiking, or with someone else.

There are several suspicious aspects of the case. A forensic expert found almost no signs of struggle, but at the same time no evidence that she had climbed the tree by herself. She had no injuries on her hands or feet, and there were no thorns or scratches on the soles of her feet, even though the surrounding terrain was rough and full of vegetation. In addition, important evidence disappeared – for example, the cord around her neck, her shoes, and her watch. A full autopsy and toxicology tests were not performed, which is now considered a major investigative mistake.

Another strange detail came from a witness living near the discovery site. She claimed that during the night she heard an argument between several young people and a girl crying. Police never officially questioned her at the time. This later significantly strengthened the theory that it may have been a murder staged as suicide.

The girl’s identity remained unknown for 32 years. The breakthrough came in 2022 thanks to journalists from the Catalan true crime show Crims, who compared old photographs and international missing persons records. Evi’s sister immediately recognized the clothing and appearance. It also turned out that Italian police already had a detailed description of missing Evi in 1990 – but due to failures in international communication, the case was never connected to the Spanish discovery.

In 2023, Italian prosecutors officially concluded that Evi’s death was murder, not suicide. However, the case has still not been solved because there is no specific suspect. The situation is further complicated by the fact that her remains were moved to a mass grave years later, and during exhumation in 2024 they could not be found. In other words, today not only the explanation for her death is missing, but even the body itself.

The case of Evi Rauter is now considered one of the most mysterious unsolved European cases of the 1990s. The main questions remain the same: Who got her to Portbou? Why was she killed? And why did someone so thoroughly remove almost all traces?

READ MORE:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muerte_de_Evi_Rauter
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/apr/15/mystery-girl-found-hanged-spanish-border-town-portbou