Cameroonian migrant who died near Latvia's border identified with Interpol's help

In early May last year, a group of migrants who had illegally crossed into Latvia from Belarus left behind a young woman in a forest after she could no longer continue the journey. A few days later, border guards found a dead woman at her last known location, whose appearance matched the description of the missing person. Since her identity could not be confirmed, she was buried as an unidentified individual in a numbered grave.

The woman's family launched an international search through Interpol, listing Latvia as one of the possible locations where she might be found. It later emerged that the missing and deceased woman was Brenda Djordani, a Cameroonian citizen and one of thousands of migrants who attempted to cross the Latvian border on their way to Europe.

Contact before the tragedy

The story was brought to light by Zosja Krasnowolska, a volunteer with the Polish initiative "Hope & Humanity Poland," which in practice consists of just two women, Zosja and Gosja. For five years, they have been remotely helping migrants who find themselves in difficult situations in Belarus.

Zosja said she recognized Brenda's voice and had been in contact with her, including via video calls, describing her as cheerful and warm-hearted. News of her death deeply affected Zosja. To reconstruct the sequence of events, she went back through saved correspondence with Brenda — a process she found emotionally difficult.

The case is one of several in which migrants attempting to illegally cross Latvia's border from Belarus have died in forested areas, with their identities later established only through international search mechanisms.