Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.
A 25-year-old woman was unaware that the photo she sent to her boyfriend would be her last, as she was tragically murdered shortly thereafter.
Anne Faber was on a bike ride in Utrecht, Netherlands, on 29 September 2017, when a sudden downpour caught her by surprise.
She was heading towards Den Dolder, a small village known for its shops, restaurants, and schools, and she stopped near a clinic to take what she probably thought would be a humorous picture for her boyfriend.
Faber, flashing a peace sign, took a selfie showing her soaked in the rain and sent the photo to her boyfriend around 6:50pm.
However, when Faber did not return home that evening, her family grew concerned. Her family and boyfriend organized a search party and spent the next 10 days searching the area to uncover what had happened.
On 3 October, the search party found Faber’s coat. Two days later, they located her bicycle, and the following day, they discovered her backpack.
Investigators tested Faber’s coat for DNA, which matched then-27-year-old Michael P, a previously convicted sex offender.
P had a prior conviction for rape and robbery and was undergoing treatment at a nearby clinic at the time of Faber’s death.
However, Dutch News reports that the clinic was not informed of P’s past sex crime convictions because he had blocked the prison from passing on that information, leading to his treatment being focused only on aggression and drug abuse.
P was arrested in connection to Faber’s death and confessed three days later to her murder.
He explained to police that he had hit Faber with his scooter on the day of her death and subsequently became angry.
After raping her, he took her towards the small town of Soest, but Faber attempted to escape by calling for help.
To silence her, P then fatally stabbed her with a knife.
Following his confession, P directed police to Faber’s body, which was found in a wooded area in a nature reserve in Zeewolde.
Although P denied that the killing was premeditated, an appeal court judge in 2019 described his actions as “cold and calculated”.
He was sentenced to 28 years in prison with psychiatric treatment.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org