The Lørenskog Disappearance is a fictionalised crime drama series which follows the abduction case of Anne Elisabeth Hagen from the premise of her own home. The official synopsis of the limited series reads, “When a billionaire’s wife vanishes, Norwegian police must deal with the frenzied press and deceitful informants to find the truth. Based on real events.”
It is created by Nikolaj Frobenius and Stephen Uhlander and directed by Gjyljeta Berisha and Erik Skjoldbjaerg. There are 5 episodes with a runtime of about 52 minutes. Starring Yngvild Støen Grotmol, Henrik Rafaelsen, Christian Rubeck, Victoria Ose, Kidane Gjølme Dalva, Terje Strømdahl, Hermann Sabado, Glenn André Kaada, Roar Kjølv Jenssen, Kjersti Dalseide and Helene Bjørneby.
Who is Anne Elisabeth Hagen? Who Abducted Her?
Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen is a 69-year-old woman and wife of millionaire property and energy magnate Tom Hagen. On 31st October 2018, she disappeared from their home in Lorenskog, east of Oslo and hasn’t been found since then. When Tom Hagen came home from work, he found a threatening letter on a chair in the hallway.
Also Read: The Lørenskog Disappearance Review: An Unsolved Case and Many Perspectives
The sender claimed that Anne Hagen had been abducted and that she would only be released if the family paid the kidnappers 9 million euros in ransom, transferred through Monero (cryptocurrency). After finding the letter, he called the police and explained his situation, he tried to call his wife numerous times and when she didn’t pick up, he came home to find her nowhere.
The abductor also stated in the letter that if the case was disclosed to the police or media, they will kill Anne instead. Due to endangerment to Anne’s life, the police tried to work undercover. However, there was no sign of forced entry into the house, the only evidence of a struggle was in the hallway where Anne may have tried to get away from the kidnappers.
Even after 10 weeks of investigation, trying to contact the kidnappers through bitcoin and tracing their location through it, there was little to no evidence to pick up on. This left them to finally go public and get the media involved. As soon as the details were made public, it became fodder for true crime enthusiasts, with endless theories, speculations and rumours.
The investigation revealed that the abduction letter was written by someone fluent in Norwegian who tried to make it look like its written by some non-native person. But it didn’t give any clues, the bitcoin account was traced back to a 30-year-old man, known as Ole Henrik Golf, but in reality, his identity was bought on the dark web and he wasn’t aware of it.
Also Read: Love Is Blind Season 3 Teaser: New Singles are Here to Take a Chance on Love
As no suspects seemed to be found, suspicions grew around Tom Hagen and his relationship with Anne. The police also found a pre-nuptial agreement made in 1987 that shows that Anne Hagen was entitled to just 15,000 euros of his 156 million euros fortune along with a plot of land and a Citroen car if the couple divorced.
They also found that Anne was looking up divorce on the internet and might be unhappy in marriage. However, the prenup contract may not have stood up in court, with lawyers telling that the agreement was so lopsided it might have been ripped apart. That might have been the reason for Tom to plan a homicide for his own wife as the divorce would end up with him losing half of his assets.
In the last episode of the series, it was shown that Police informants come out of the woodwork with claims against Anne-Elisabeth’s husband, that was linked to international gangs, drug cartels to prostitution rings. The police suspected that Tom might have hired some Kirap family gang to accomplish the kidnapping and arrested him on basis of other evidence.
Tom Hagen was arrested in April 2020, but he was released 11 days later and has not been charged with any crimes. To this day he maintains his innocence and claims to have a happy married life, even when divorced papers signed by Anne were found in the house.
Although it is almost four years since Anne-Elisabeth Hagen disappeared, the case is still unsolved, and the investigation is still ongoing. Tom has been majorly suspected in this case by the media and police but no solid evidence has been found nor any whereabouts of Anne, whether she is alive or dead.
The Lørenskog Disappearance is currently streaming on Netflix.
Also Read: Succession to The White Lotus, Where to Watch Emmy-Winning Shows