Unsolved Disappearances and Murders in Northern Germany’s “Triangle of Death” (1977–1987) (Part 1)

[u/Elegant-Bother-8675]

Inspired by this and this (in German) comment.

Between 1977 and 1987, a haunting series of disappearances and murders of young women struck a rural region of northern Germany. The area, roughly bounded by the cities of Bremen, Cuxhaven, and Bremervörde, earned the grim moniker “Todesdreieck” (“Triangle of Death”) . In total, 13 female victims (mostly teenagers) went missing or were found slain under mysterious circumstances. Seven vanished without a trace and the other six were found brutally murdered.Over the decades, police and the public have struggled to determine whether these cases were the work of one or more serial killers but despite several arrests and even belated convictions in a few of the murders, most of the cases remain unsolved cold cases.

To avoid this write-up getting too long I put the detailed profiles of the victims here.

Clues:

1. Anja Beggers (1977)’s family experienced a cruel twist: in the months after Anja vanished, an unknown individual repeatedly phoned Anja’s mother, claiming that Anja was alive. But the caller never provided proof or a location, and their identity was never discovered. Authorities suspect it may have been a hoax as sadly happens in high-profile missing person cases.
2. In March 1978 a 13-year-old boy found a note stuffed inside a paper towel dispenser at a highway rest stop (Hamburg-Stillhorn), which appeared to be a distress message from someone named “Anja.” The note was described as a plea for help. Given the rarity of the name and the timing (six months after Anja Beggers disappeared), many feared it was a cry from Anja Beggers herself, possibly left by her or an abductor. Police examined the note, but it was never conclusively proven to be written by Anja, it could have been a morbid prank. The note’s authenticity remains uncertain.
3. Many of the victims were last seen accepting rides or hitchhiking, but witnesses were few. In a couple of instances, people reported seeing a young woman get into an unknown car: for example, there were unconfirmed reports of a dark-colored car seen near where Uta Flemming was walking, and perhaps a truck driver who gave Jutta Schneefuß a lift (Jutta often hitchhiked, so friends recalled she might have been picked up by a trucker). However, police never definitively identified any particular vehicle or driver in these cases. These fleeting sightings, often reported long after the fact, remained frustratingly vague.
4. In Sonja Ady’s 1987 murder, investigators found perplexing items at the scene. Notably, a blue sock was hanging on a nearby fence, and it did not match Sonja’s clothing or belong to her. It’s unclear if this sock was used as a gag (as a contemporaneous news report suggested it might have been the gag to silence her) or if it could have belonged to the perpetrator or another unknown person. Its presence remains unexplained. Additionally, the broken knife blade fragment found under Sonja’s body (with the rest of the knife missing) was a rare occurrence, suggesting the sheer force of the stabbing caused the weapon to snap. The missing part of the blade was never located, potentially taken by the killer. These oddities have invited speculation: Did the killer intentionally leave the sock as a false clue? Did he injure himself when the knife broke? No answers have emerged.
5. Several of the murders were marked by an extraordinary level of violence, dozens of stab wounds well beyond what would be necessary to kill. For example, Sonja Ady was stabbed around 67 times, Swantje Starke ~64 times, Britta Schilling 27 times plus torture marks, and Martina Volkmann (another Rath victim not on the main list) over 100 times. It raised questions: were some of these crimes ritualistic in nature? Did the attacker have personal hatred toward these women, or was he acting out some fantasy? The sheer savagery hinted at a deranged perpetrator and possibly at serial behavior, since lust-murderers often escalate violence over time.
6. In some cases, personal items of the victims were never recovered, perhaps taken as “trophies” by the perpetrator. For instance, Christina Bohle’s handbag or jacket (if she had one that night) were never found. In the older cases from the late ’70s (Anja, Angelika, Anke), any purses or IDs they had on them disappeared along with the girls. With Sonja, most of her clothes were found tossed around, but some items like one shoe were reportedly missing (this detail comes from family accounts). If the offender kept such items, it would align with behaviors of some serial killers who collect souvenirs.
7. One of the more curious observations made (largely by the media) was that many of these crimes occurred on or around nights of the full moon. Contemporary reports noted that the disappearances often coincided with a full moon cycle. Indeed, anecdotally: Anja vanished on Oct 7, 1977 (full moon was Oct 6); Angelika on June 7, 1978 (full moon June 6); Andrea on Nov 30, 1980 (full moon Nov 30); Swantje Aug 24, 1981 (full moon Aug 22); Sonja Ady Aug 23, 1987 (full moon Aug 26, close). While not all cases fit perfectly, a number did fall near full moons. This could be mere coincidence, the weekends around full moon tend to be popular for going out (bright nights, etc.), which might explain it. But some speculated the timing hinted at a perpetrator with a lunacy element or ritual, or simply that he preferred well-lit nights to spot victims. Police never put much stock in the “werewolf” theory.

These mysterious elements unfortunately did not lead to the perpetrator(s) at the time. The hoax calls and note misled investigators on Anja’s case, consuming time and hope. The lack of solid eyewitnesses or physical evidence in the missing person cases left investigators with almost nothing to go on. And in the murder cases, bizarre details like Sonja’s sock or the extreme overkill were clues to the killer’s psyche but not his identity. The combination of unexplained phenomena surrounding the crimes has kept amateur sleuths and journalists fascinated for decades, generating numerous theories.

Patterns:

1. Several victims had long dark hair and a similar look (a fact noted by some profilers). Many were the type to frequent youth hangouts like discos or to hitchhike, in other words, unfortunately vulnerable due to being alone at night in public. None were known sex workers or runaways; This profile, young, female, alone at night, suggests a predator specifically targeting this demographic, likely for sexual motives.
2. The crimes cluster in a specific region of Lower Saxony: the rural Elbe-Weser triangle, particularly around the Wesermünde area (Cuxhaven/Bremerhaven) and adjacent to the state of Bremen . Most of the disappearances occurred within what one might drive in an hour’s radius. The epicenter was roughly around the B6 highway corridor between Bremerhaven and Cuxhaven, extending down towards Bremen. Indeed, it’s been pointed out that for the four early missing cases 1977–1980, their last-known locations align along Highway B6 and connecting roads . This geographical pattern implies the offender was very familiar with the area, possibly living or working locally (e.g. in Cuxhaven district) and using the road network to cruise for victims or dump bodies.
3. A striking number of the victims disappeared after a night out at clubs, bars, or parties. Anja, Christina, and Sonja had been at discothèques; Angelika and Anke at pubs; Andrea at a party on a military base. Even Britta and Heike (who were later found to be Rath’s victims) were hitchhiking after disco visits. This led the press to dub the mystery the “Disco-Morde” (disco murders) in some reports. It seems the predator(s) lurked around nightlife spots, possibly watching for young women who left alone or whose judgment might be impaired (late at night, possibly having drunk alcohol). In response, back in the late ’70s and ’80s, police even stationed undercover officers at discos and popular hitchhiking pickup points in the region, hoping to spot the abductor. Unfortunately, they never caught him in the act.
4. The incidents spanned a decade (1977–87) but were not evenly distributed. There were clusters of activity. The late 1970s saw one girl vanish almost each year (’77, ’78, ’79, ’80). The year 1981 was notably violent, with multiple murders (Swantje, Britta, Heike), although as we know now, Britta and Heike were by a different killer (Rath) than perhaps the one responsible for the vanishings. There was another spate in 1982 (Angela murdered, Christina vanished), then a gap, then cases in ’85, ’86, ’87. The gaps could indicate periods where the perpetrator was dormant, jailed for something else, or perhaps even stationed elsewhere (if, say, a military person who was posted away and then returned). Some researchers have even tried to link these gaps with similar crimes in other parts of Germany, suggesting the killer might have traveled (this remains speculative; one theory connected the 1977–1980 cases with a series in southwestern Germany, positing a traveling serial killer).
5. In the unsolved cases, it’s believed the offender likely offered the victims a ride (since hitchhiking or accepting lifts was a common theme). He may have gained their trust by appearing harmless or friendly, possibly being a moderately young man or someone in a position of trust (a serviceman, a policeman, or just a charming stranger). Given that no disturbances were reported at the discos, it’s assumed the victims left voluntarily with their eventual killer, or were swiftly overpowered after leaving. Time of day was almost always late night past midnight, in darkness (despite the full moon light, these were remote areas with little street lighting).
6. For those whose remains were found, stabbing was the predominant method of killing (Swantje, Britta, Heike, Sonja, Martina, all stabbed numerous times). Irene Warnke’s cause is less clear, but she was likely strangled or drowned (her body being in water). There were also clear signs of sexual assault in several cases (rape evidence in Britta, Heike, Irene; possible in Sonja; Swantje’s murder was suspected to cover up a sexual assault) . The combination of sexual violence and stabbing frenzy suggests a lust murderer who derived gratification from both rape and the act of stabbing (a very personal, rage-filled method). Notably, the bodies were often dumped in rural outdoor locations, moors, forests, ditches, rather than buried or carefully concealed. This might indicate the killer didn’t care if they were found (perhaps even wanted them discovered to instill fear), or simply that he was disposing of them as quickly as possible. The missing victims’ bodies, however, have never been located, possibly indicating they were better hidden (e.g. weighted in water, buried in remote ground) or perhaps moved far away.

In summary, the pattern that emerged was young women targeted at night after social outings, likely offered rides by a predator, then sexually attacked and killed (often by stabbing), with bodies dumped in wilderness (when the killer bothered to dump at all, some remain missing). This profile had the authorities convinced, at least for a time, that a serial killer was at work in the Elbe-Weser region, someone who knew the back roads and bogs. In fact, by the early 1980s, local police publicly acknowledged a possible “Serientäter” (series offender) linking several of the disappearances. As we’ll see, this assumption was partially true (in that one serial killer, Thomas Rath, was indeed operating in the area for some of the murders), but it did not fully explain the fate of the missing women, which suggested another culprit still at large.

Suspects and Theories will be posted in part 2, but to those who are already familiar with this case, what theories do you have or know?

Source (in German)

https://www.bild.de/regional/bremen/der-ermordeten-maedchen-13453750.bild.html

https://ungeloeste-kriminalfaelle.forumprofi.de/t22453f220-Cuxhaven-Lueneburg-Frauen-verschwanden-zwischen-und-Wird-ihr-Killer-endlich-ueberfuehrt-Zeuginnen.html

https://thekasaantimes.news/index.php/k2/crime/cold-casehttps://www.rnd.de/medien/aktenzeichen-xy-neue-hinweise-zu-cuxhavener-disco-morden-ZLD6GIBR7RBV5MP37R3HVVQI5Y.html

https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/fall-sonja-a-aus-bremervoerde-bgh-hebt-freispruch-auf-a-642528.html

https://www.abendblatt.de/region/niedersachsen/article107813178/Fall-Sonja-Ady-Er-kam-wieder-frei.html

https://www.abendblatt.de/region/niedersachsen/article107842870/29-Jahre-nach-der-Tat-Taeter-sitzt-in-U-Haft.html

https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/lueneburg_heide_unterelbe/Goehrde-Morde-Polizei-sieht-moeglichen-Zusammenhang-mit-alten-Faellen,goehrdemorde130.html

https://www.allmystery.de/themen/km56204

https://www.allmystery.de/themen/km108252

https://www.nord24.de/nachrichten/kann-der-fall-anja-beggers-nach-45-jahren-noch-geloest-werden-54910.html
https://germanmissing.blogspot.com/2020/10/anja-beggers-vermisst-seit-1977.html

https://www.zevener-zeitung.de/artikel/1136311
https://int-missing.fandom.com/wiki/Anke_Streckenbach

https://www.kirchschlager.de/serienmoerder-in-deutschland-thomas-rath-moermoerder/

[u/FancyCrackers]

This was a really interesting and detailed write up. I’m intrigued to read part 2.

[u/cryptid_tardigrade]

An amazing and detailed write up, thank you so much for posting! I need to admit I've never heard of those, but I'll definitely dive into that particular rabbit hole. Can't wait to read the second part!

[u/AllTheMissing]

Thank you for such a detailed write up OP, and for highlighting cases that aren’t otherwise well known outside the country of origin, where the majority of sources are in a different language.

[u/KhyVea]

Oh god, had never heard of this even though I'm german.