The Murder of Inga Maria Hauser

This week we are going to be looking at an unsolved murder of a young woman that happened in the north of Ireland.

Her name is Inga Maria Hauser.

And it's a case that began all the way back in 1988, but it has seen some significant developments within the past few months which brought it to my attention.

So to understand today's episode, I want you to think back to when you were 18 years old.

When you've just finished school, the world is your oyster and you have that pull to explore and see the world around you.

And you also have this kind of sense of invincibility that comes along with being young and naive and not fully understanding everything that could go wrong.

That was the stage of life that Inga was in.

She was an explorer, she was a learner, and she was out there seeing as much of the world as she could at a time well before gap years and travelling during college was the norm.

She was also by all accounts a very cautious and sensible young woman, but through what appears to have been a terrible combination of circumstance and misfortune, her journey ended in the north of Ireland.

On April 6th, 1988, the 18-year-old German student boarded a ferry in Scotland bound for Larne, a town on the east coast of a county on Trum.

Inga, who kept a detailed journal of her travels, wrote in her final diary entry, "'Saw the sea.

Beautiful and mysterious.

Wonder where I'll stay tonight.'" Inga was seen aboard that ferry, but no one could reliably say they saw her leave it on foot.

Her diary and camera contained no record of her ever reaching Northern Ireland, and 14 days after her disappearance, her body was found almost 40 miles away in Ballypatrick Forest in County Antrim.

In the decades since, police have since said they developed a strong theory and even had a suspect in mind.

but they may never be able to bring that person to prosecution.

So what happened to Inga between boarding her ferry and being found in Ballypatrick Forest? And why has the case, police appear to understand, remained unsolved for almost 40 years? That's what we'll be asking this week on Red Room Unsolved.