Tassen (2) was at home when Anne-Elisabeth disappeared; DNA not tested – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

After almost two years of intense investigation, the police still do not know who is behind the disappearance of Anne-Elisabeth Hagen.

According to the police chronology, she was home alone with the little puppy Tassen when one or more unknown perpetrators entered the home. The dog was later found trapped in a room in the house.

Kripos describes the couple’s Sloraveien home in Lørenskog as the most investigated crime scene in Norway, but NRK can now say that the police never conducted forensic investigations of the dog.

NRK professionals have spoken to believe that it is possible to find relevant pet traces in criminal cases. Traces found on pets have previously been used as evidence in foreign lawsuits.

The assistance attorney for the three adult children of the Hagen family, Ståle Kihle, tells NRK that the dog “obviously” is something that should also have been investigated.

– It is an “object” that should have been investigated and a place could theoretically be imagined finding traces. The police have gotten it too, but obviously too late, Kihle tells NRK.

The police cannot rule out that several people have participated in what they believe to be a kidnapping and murder. Tom Hagen is charged in the case. He denies guilt and is supported by the couple’s adult children.

Can find DNA

It was Tom Hagen who found the dog locked up and, as reported to NRK, the Hagen family is convinced that it was not Anne-Elisabeth Hagen herself who locked Tassen in the first floor living room.

She never used to lock up the dog, and she didn’t usually stay in this room. Therefore, the family believes that the perpetrators may have moved on.

Experts that NRK has spoken to believe that the police may have missed traces of the perpetrators by not examining the dog.

– If the dog has been manipulated, that is, has been physically touched and moved, it may find, for example, hair or other DNA that has been transmitted to it, former dog trainer and police dog instructor Kittil Haugen tells NRK.

The eastern police district does not want to answer questions about Tassen, or whether they may have missed important leads.

– For the sake of the investigation, we cannot comment on what investigations we have or have not done, or speculations about it, writes Police Inspector Agnes Beate Hemiø in an email to NRK.

I heard beeps

Tom Hagen has explained that he went home on the day of the disappearance to look for his wife who had not answered the mobile phone.

On the second floor of the house, you must have noticed that the dog had done something on the floor.

Hagen has explained that he heard beeps from the dog from another room and that he later found the puppy locked in one of the downstairs living rooms.

It is on the ground floor where the police have found other clues related to the disappearance.

The police wanted to investigate

Only several months after the disappearance, in the winter of 2019, the police contacted them by phone and explained that they would carry out DNA tests on the dog and the harness he was wearing.

This is what a person close to the Hagen family who took care of the dog tells NRK after Anne-Elisabeth Hagen disappeared.

– I said that we would be happy to come, but asked if it made any sense since both the dog and the harness were washed. Finally they said that if necessary, they would come back to us. But after this we haven’t heard anything. Therefore, it was never examined, as far as we know, says the person who cared for the dog.

The information is also confirmed by development assistance lawyer Ståle Kihle. Dog trainer Kittil Haugen says that if these surveys are to give any answers, they must be completed in no time.

– It is a small clue, but if it has been tampered with, there may be traces of someone there. I think such exams need to be done relatively quickly to guarantee any traces, says dog trainer Kittil Haugen.

Defense attorney Svein Holden does not wish to comment on the information in the case.

Evidence

DNA that has been passed from perpetrators to pets has previously been used as evidence in criminal cases. In a Texas murder case in the US in 2001, specialists managed to link the perpetrator to a murder after his DNA was found on the murder victim’s parrot.

Inside the scene, police investigators found the body of Kevin Butler and his bird Bird, who had also been killed.

Forensic investigations determined that the Bird Bird had attacked the perpetrators, and DNA from two people was found in the bird’s beak and claws, the BBC writes.

The prosecutor in the case, George West, testified after the case that the bird’s footprints were important evidence in the case.

– The bird “spoke to us,” he said.

May have been scared by the sounds

Kittil Haugen believes that Tassen’s footprints on the house can also help form a picture of what happened inside the house on the morning and morning of October 31 nearly two years ago.

– Another question is why it was removed. Have you been bullied or neglected for a long time? He wonders.