Unsolved Mysteries: The Christmas Killing of Elli Immo

With No Weapon, No Motive and No Suspects, Just Who Killed a Young Girl in the Snows of Lapland?

Lapland is seen as a magical place. A place where the snow often falls to a depth of over a meter, and sleds cross picturesque scenes full of fir trees, lights, and Santa Claus for the tourists. It’s a place of rustic charm where nothing evil could ever happen… Sadly, perception and reality are not the same things, and Lapland has just as many issues as anywhere else in the world. The life is hard, and while the cold may seem remarkable to tourists staying a matter of days, the Baltic winds chill locals to the bone. Game of Thrones’ famous warning of “winter is coming” could almost be made for this one area of Finland.

Such was the winter of 1955. In the city of Kemi, southern Lapland, three young women stood freezing in the night air. Maila, Anna Liisa and Elli, more fully Elli Maria Immo. The three had looked around the sights and done a copious amount of window shopping, with the city getting ready for Christmas. It was December 7, and perhaps there were wooden toys for children in the windows, maybe new clothes or food displayed for passing shoppers.

As the clock struck 9pm, Maila told her friends that her feet were freezing and it was…