The body of 29-year-old Hajar was discovered on the morning of Oct.16 inside a suitcase in the Amstel River along the Amsteldijk in Amsterdam-Zuid, near Martin Luther Kingpark. She had been missing since Oct. 4, when she was last seen cycling away from the RAI convention center toward the Buitenveldert neighborhood with an unidentified man.
Hajar disappeared after sending a series of alarming text messages to a family member. According to reporting by De Telegraaf, one message read: “Help me. Now. He is killing me.”
The messages arrived around 11:15 a.m. on Oct. 4. Her family reported her missing that evening, but police initially classified the case as non-urgent. A public appeal for information was not issued until Oct. 13, nine days later.
On Oct. 20, Amsterdam police arrested a 23-year-old Somali national identified in reports as Abdi A. (or Abdi Anan). He has lived in the Netherlands since the age of six, holds permanent residency, and has no fixed address.
Authorities said he was first questioned as a witness after CCTV footage placed him with Hajar near the RAI on the day she vanished. He was arrested the following day after a separate violent incident at a home in Koggenland, Noord-Holland, in which a man, later identified as his foster father, was injured.
Police Chief Peter Holla told a press conference that “Hajar died fairly soon after her disappearance” and that “as far as is known, the suspect has no connection to the victim.”
Chief Prosecutor René de Beukelaer said, “Once again we must pause at the violent death of a young woman.”
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema confirmed the death was the result of a violent crime and noted the case alongside the prior murder of 17-year-old Lisa.
Investigators later searched an empty school building on De Klencke in Buitenveldert, where police believe Hajar was killed.
Holla described the circumstances of the disposal as “inhumane.”
Family members expressed anger that police did not treat the case as urgent sooner despite the text messages, telling LINDA.nl: “We already knew she had been murdered. That is what she messaged.”
Police said they assessed the initial report differently and have since spoken further with the family.
Hajar was described by acquaintances as vulnerable and known for leaving her home with a suitcase and going away for longer periods before returning.
The investigation remains ongoing, and the suspect is expected to appear before a judge.