The Lrenskog Disappearance is a fictionalized crime drama series that follows Anne Elisabeth Hagen’s abduction case from the premise of her own home. “When a billionaire’s wife goes missing, Norwegian police must deal with a frenzied press and deceitful informants to find the truth,” according to the official synopsis of the limited series. “Based on true events.”
Nikolaj Frobenius and Stephen Uhlander created it, and Gjyljeta Berisha and Erik Skjoldbjaerg directed it. There are 5 episodes totaling 52 minutes in length. Yngvild Sten Grotmol, Henrik Rafaelsen, Christian Rubeck, Victoria Ose, Kidane Gjlme Dalva, Terje Strmdahl, Hermann Sabado, Glenn André Kaada, Roar Kjlv Jenssen, Kjersti Dalseide, and Helene Bjrneby star in the film.
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What exactly is Anne Elisabeth Hagen? Who kidnapped her?
Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, 69, is the wife of millionaire real estate and energy magnate Tom Hagen. She vanished from their home in Lorenskog, east of Oslo, on October 31, 2018, and has not been found since. Tom Hagen returned home from work to discover a threatening letter on a chair in the hallway.
The sender claimed that Anne Hagen had been kidnapped and that she would only be released if the family paid the kidnappers a ransom of 9 million euros via Monero (cryptocurrency). After discovering the letter, he called the police and explained his situation. He tried calling his wife several times and when she didn’t answer, he returned home to find her gone.
In the letter, the abductor also stated that if the case was revealed to the police or the media, they would kill Anne instead. Due to the risk to Anne’s life, the police attempted to work undercover. There was no evidence of forced entry into the house, and the only sign of a struggle was in the hallway, where Anne may have attempted to flee the kidnappers.
The Lrenskog Disappearance, still
Even after 10 weeks of investigation, attempting to contact the kidnappers and tracking their location via bitcoin, there was little to no evidence to be found. This forced them to go public and involve the media. As soon as the details were made public, true crime fans were able to come up with endless theories, speculations, and rumours.
The investigation revealed that the abduction letter was written by someone fluent in Norwegian who attempted to make it appear to be written by a non-native. The bitcoin account was traced back to a 30-year-old man known as Ole Henrik Golf, but in reality, his identity was purchased on the dark web and he was unaware of it.
As there appeared to be no suspects, suspicions grew around Tom Hagen and his relationship with Anne. The police also discovered a pre-nuptial agreement from 1987, which stated that if the couple divorced, Anne Hagen would be entitled to only 15,000 euros of his 156 million euros fortune, as well as a plot of land and a Citroen car.
The Disappearance of Lrenskog on Netflix
They also discovered that Anne was researching divorce on the internet and may be unhappy in her marriage. However, the prenuptial agreement may not have stood up in court, with lawyers claiming that it was so lopsided that it could have been ripped apart. Tom may have planned a homicide for his own wife because the divorce would result in him losing half of his assets.
In the series finale, it was revealed that police informants came out of the woodwork with allegations against Anne-husband, Elisabeth’s which were linked to international gangs, drug cartels, and prostitution rings. The police suspected Tom of hiring a Kirap family gang to carry out the kidnapping and arrested him based on other evidence.
Tom Hagen was arrested in April 2020, but he was released 11 days later with no charges filed. Even after divorce papers signed by Anne were discovered in the house, he maintains his innocence and claims to have a happy married life.
Despite the fact that Anne-Elisabeth Hagen has been missing for nearly four years, the case remains unsolved, and the investigation is still ongoing. The media and police have heavily suspected Tom in this case, but no solid evidence or information about Anne’s whereabouts, whether she is alive or dead, has been found.
Five quick facts about Anne-Elizabeth Falkevik Hagen’s disappearance
1) There was little to no forensic evidence in the case
After Anne-Elizabeth Falkevik Hagen disappeared from her house on Halloween 2018, the first approach was naturally to scan the house and gather any forensic evidence possible. However, police found nearly none of it apart from signs of a struggle where Anne-Elizabeth might have hidden from her kidnappers before they took her.
There was no sign of any forced entry. Anne-Elizabeth allegedly did not lock the doors often.
2) In 2020, the police arrested the billionaire businessman Tom Hagen
After investigating for a long time, the police alleged that this entire kidnapping and ransom scenario was a planned deception. Additionally, the kidnappers did not keep in touch frequently or provide any proof that Anne-Elizabeth Falkevik Hagen was alive.
3) The police also charged an unnamed 30-year-old man who seemingly does not exist
In April 2020, the police arrested an unknown 30-year-old man, who later turned out to be Ole Henrik Golf. In a turn of events, it was revealed that the man did not exist at all. His identity was sold on the darknet web by a company called CardPass. It turned out that the identity had been originally sold to another Norwegian man, who had previously used it to buy drugs before he sold it to the company.
4) The typed letter revealed a ton of important information
Tom Hagen received a typed letter from the kidnappers after the disappearance of Anne-Elizabeth Falkevik Hagen. This letter was eventually the only clue for the authorities to figure.
At first, the police thought that the letter was written by a non-native speaker. But with a further thorough investigation, they have now deciphered that the letter was written by a native Norwegian speaker who intentionally tried to write it poorly. The mistakes in the language seemed intentional and deceptive.
5) New information from the kidnappers came from an encrypted chat feature on a bitcoin trading app
Over the past couple of years, the supposed kidnappers have used the encrypted chat feature on the bitcoin trading app to communicate with police through highly untraceable coded messages. They have also reportedly asked to use the lesser-known cryptocurrency Dash in a bid to hide the money trail.
Tom Hagen remains under the watchful eye of the authorities till date.
The disappearance of Anne-Elizabeth Falkevik Hagen was no ordinary event in the quaint country of Norway, especially since the victim disappeared without a trace. In October 2018, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, the wife of the real-estate baron Tom Hagen, disappeared from her home. Shortly after, her husband received a ransom demand for a whopping $10 million in cryptocurrency. With little evidence, misleading scenarios, and murder suspicions, this case proves to be far more complicated than expected.
Is Tom Hagen innocent?
From Ivar Eng’s interview, the cops found out that he and Tom discussed bitcoins and Monero, the same currency in which kidnappers are demanding ransom.
Based on Tom Hagen’s constant suggestions for the cops, Hagen’s blood on the crime scenes, Lisbeth hoping to divorce, and Hagen deleting two calls to his wife on the day she was murdered, the cops arrested him.
Although the cops had a weak ground, Hagen’s lawyer Mr. Holden had to prove his innocence. With the help of his assistant, Holden found out that Hagen’s phone can only save six calls from the same person in the log.
Therefore, Tom did call his wife eight times and he didn’t delete those call logs. For time being, Mr. Holden managed to prove that Tom Hagen isn’t responsible for the kidnapping since the cops don’t have concrete proof that says Hagen arranged this kidnapping.
What was the racket Tom involved in?
A man named Winklemann called Michael, stating he has information related to the Lørenskog case. He gave him a man named Mattis, who could help them.
Mattis told the cops about Peter Vam, with whom he went to Warsaw to find girls and start a racket for the rich, celebrities, artists, and comedians. One of the girls from the racket was Astoria. She put on a play to attract these people.
Peter used to tape them and show them a clip later on, demanding money and explaining what will happen if they don’t pay. Sometime later, Mattis was kicked out. He confronted Peter and got arrested.
Mattis later met Astoria and for the first time heard about Tom.
Did the cops catch the kidnappers?
Through a tip from Winklemann, Erlend tracked down Kirap but got caught when Edon arrived at the same time. Erlend received a beating but he delivered information to Michael who was out there to meet Peter.
Despite Michael putting Peter under arrest, Peter found a way to escape. He knew the cops were coming, his wife had bought two tickets to Dubai two days ago. After Erlend’s attempt to track them down, Kirap and Edon might have escaped too.
Mattis on his side hung himself to death. Anne-Elisabeth Hagen was never found. The series comes to a close with Jorunn’s father recognizing Tom as his classmate.
