The Lørenskog Disappearance is a Norwegian crime thriller miniseries based on the real-life missing person case of Anne-Elisabeth Hågen in 2018 starring Yngvild Grotmol, Terje Strømdahl, Christian Rubeck, Victoria Ose, and Henrik Rafaelsen.
When Norwegian billionaire Tom Hågen’s wife Anne-Elisabeth Hågen suddenly goes missing, it opens up one of the most intriguing and mysterious cases in Norway. Led by Chief Inspector Jorunn, the investigation snowballs into one of the biggest puzzles in Scandinavian history as eager journalists, perplexed lawyers, and unreliable informants challenge the Norwegian police.
Created by Nikolaj Frobenius and Stephen Uhlander in the style of a dramatized documentary, the Netflix limited series heightens intrigue and puzzlement with every episode as new leads and covert informants only make the mystery murkier. With theories ranging from husband-killings to ties with the Norwegian underworld, the police and journalists of Lørenskog grapple with verity and prejudices in their frantic efforts to recover Anne.
The Lørenskog Disappearance Story Summary
On October 31, 2018, a group of masked men break into the Hågen house and kidnap Anne-Elisabeth Hågen, leaving behind a ransom note. Tom Hågen reports his missing wife to the police despite the ransom note prohibiting police contact. The kidnappers demand 9 million euros to be paid in the untraceable cryptocurrency “Monero”.
Chief inspector Jorunn of East Police District leads the case with her colleague Michael and police prosecutor Tommy Haris, enlisting the aid of Holger and Anne from Kripos. The police thus begin a covert operation to recover Anne safely, taking precautions to ensure the kidnappers are unaware of police intervention.
The police begin their investigation, interrogating Anne’s family and beginning a forensic analysis of the Hågen house. Jorunn and Michael begin to question locals under pretexts of missing schoolgirls and drug busts, but fail to extract any relevant information.
Upon interrogating Tom Hågen, he reveals he saw nothing out of the ordinary when he returned home at 1.30 until he noticed the note stuck on the chair in the hall. The police attempt to follow multiple leads based on Tom’s testimony and CCTV footage of the day of the abduction, but fail to find any relevant leads.
Cryptocurrency expert Anders from Kripkos joins the investigation to help comprehend the kidnappers’ mode of communication. He explains how Monero avoids tracing the senders and the receivers. However, Monero being a relatively small cryptocurrency would take at least two months to gather a sum as large as 9 million euros.
Despite Hågen’s daughter’s refusal to interact via cryptocurrency, Anders sends the kidnappers a message promising payment in seven days on Jorunn’s behest.
After eight days pass, the kidnappers reply with the warning, “Not much time, faster or she’s dead”. Anders traces an IP address to a man; however, he claims to have no cryptocurrency stocks and his identity to have been sold on the dark web and bought by several people – another dead end.
Six weeks pass, and the Hågen family berates the police for sending the ill-advised message without their consent at the risk of Anne’s safety. The forensic team’s investigation identifies the type of paper used in the ransom note and the brand of shoes in the footprints.
Jorunn’s conversation with Anne’s best friend reveals Anne’s marriage was volatile. Anne wanted out of it but could not afford to live alone because of their prenup. Anne’s browser log reveals a search for divorce.
Eight weeks pass since the kidnappers’ message, and Jorunn admits that the case might be a homicide. She recommends the undercover investigation go public before all leads are lost.
As journalists enter the scene, Daily News crime journalist Erlend begins making inquiries about Anne and gathers information on Tom Hågen at the behest of his editor Beate.
71 days pass since Anne’s disappearance; media channels begin extensive coverage of the case and Erlend pursues the case with his colleague Aleks.
Erlend speaks to Anne’s lawyer Marianne at the Oslo courthouse about her one-sided prenup, becoming increasingly suspicious of Tom. Erlend’s past clouds his judgment as his father’s abusive behavior towards his mother compels him to brand Tom as a similarly entitled abuser.
Linguistic analyses suggest that the writer of the ransom note is a native Norwegian born before 1960. Erlend begins to get classified details of the case from someone in the police station.
Erlend receives a tip to visit Mannfred, a friend of the Hågens. He reminisces about Anne’s breezy and congenial personality and suspects Tom’s involvement in her kidnapping. Mannfred speculates Tom’s prenup as a way of controlling Anne after rumors of her affair. Suspecting Mannfred to be Anne’s lover, Tom threatened him with a gun and called him every New Year’s Eve with a threat.
With 293 days passing, the case gets branded as an ordinary domestic murder, and Erlend is convinced that Tom is responsible for Anne’s abduction. They visit psychoanalyst Scherfig, who dives into the psychology of the murderer. Scherfig reveals how Tom’s involvement would imply months of meticulous premeditated planning, and how his punishing of the woman he loves would also have a hidden aspect of punishing himself.
512 days pass since the disappearance; Tom Hågen’s lawyer Svein Holden is disturbed by scam calls and false threats.
Jorunn demands room surveillance on Hågen’s acquaintance Ivar Ing when she notices he discussed Moneros and cryptocurrency when their investigation was sealed. When Jorunn interrogates him, he displays signs of worry and distress indicating his untruthfulness.
The police arrest Hågen, appealing for four weeks of sealed custody on the grounds of evidence tampering. Presenting his washed-out bloodstains on the crime scene, deleted call logs, and repeated attempts at misdirecting the police, the court grants the police their appeal.
However, Holden’s associate Sander discovers that Tom never deleted two calls to Anne from his log; his phone can only save six call logs to the same person, and Tom’s eight calls to Anne led to the deletion of two. Using this vital information, the court of appeals releases Tom only 10 days after his arrest, much to the police’s annoyance and embarrassment.
Eva, the forensic specialist, discovers a request for separation addressed to the county governor in January 2003 and signed in 2012. However, the document is not enough to send Tom back to jail, and the police lose the opportunity to interrogate Tom.
The Lørenskog Disappearance Ending Explained
Aleks is indignant with the way Daily News is branding Tom as the criminal, haunted by the police’s unfair branding of her father as a criminal betraying his country and roots. Annoyed at the police-led control of the media, she worries about the prejudiced reporting harming the justice system.
Aleks approaches analyst Skipstad at a seminar to interview her about journalistic motives and prejudices. Skipstad reminds her that it is the media and not the police who have projected Tom as a criminal by their choice of images and tone of writing. However, Beate refuses to run Aleks’ interview in the paper as she worries her critique of the media will absolve the police of accountability.
Disappointed, Aleks pursues another lead with her colleague Daniel’s help. Connecting Anne’s disappearance with the 2005 SIBA kidnapping case, she learns about a Norwegian gang operating under the guise of Kirap’s auto repair, where she videotapes a man whose gait Daniel likens to the suspicious Furutum men found walking outside Tom’s workplace.
Michael is revealed as Erlend’s informant in the police. Meanwhile, Tommy Haris is forced to leave the investigation when he is called to headquarters in Ski.
Beate and Erlend investigate Tom’s diaries which are full of implicating vengeful remarks directed at Mannfred. Beate finds Aleks’ investigation into the Vestfold gang interesting but problematic due to the absence of concrete proof. Aleks argues with Beate and Erlend about the paper’s integrity, finally deciding to resign from Daily News.
Creating a short film with comments about the case across the blogosphere with her partner, Aleks provides an unbiased representation of the case and offers it to NRK media.
Meanwhile, Anders reports that a gang in Vestfold has suddenly become very interested in cryptocurrency – a message that Michael relays to Erlend. Realizing it’s the same gang Aleks investigated, Erlend visits Kirap’s garage.
Did the Vestfold gang abduct Anne Hagen?
Micheal’s informant Winklemann offers fellow inmate Mattis’ knowledge on the case. Mattis reveals his former involvement with Peter Vam, who ran a prostitution ring and honey trap scheme entrapping rich men. Tom Hågen was involved with one of Vam’s women – Astoria – leading to speculations about the group extorting Hågen for information. Vam later escaped to Spain after falling out with Winklemann.
After being transferred to an open prison, Mattis further reveals Edon and Allan Kirap were associated with Vam’s drug racket. Aided by Allan and his cousin Mogel, Edon visited a safe house in Oslo, returning with a lady in a sack who later disappeared in a bog.
Much to the dismay of his wife Ida, Erlend follows the lead, visiting Edon under the pretext of a sports interview. However, Alan recognizes Erlend from his previous visit to Kirap’s garage; the two beat him up and threaten him.
Anders reports to Jorunn about Vam’s cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, and the police visit Vam. When Vam denies knowledge of his corrupt activities, the police arrest him. However, he is soon released, and he absconds to Dubai.
Mattis is found dead in his cell shortly after, and Jorunn feels disheartened with the case’s meandering progress. Holden issues a public statement condemning and reporting the east police district for leaving a public charge on his client and invading his privacy.
Daily News editor and the East police district inspector Heimø rebuke Erlend for pursuing the gang leads at the expense of everyone’s safety, subsequently prohibiting Erlend from working on the Lørenskog case.
732 days have passed since the disappearance. Hågen is officially interviewed by the national broadcaster, much to Erlend’s frustration, who still believes Tom is guilty. Jorunn temporarily moves in with her father Reidar Lakke, who is struggling with a deteriorating case of Alzheimer’s.
Tom’s interview on the TV suddenly catches Reidar’s attention, and he identifies Tom as his quiet and “good lad” classmate. When Reidar asks Jorunn if Tom has done something wrong, Jorunn looks on at their childhood pictures, defeatedly admitting her confusion.
The Lørenskog Disappearance is now streaming on Netflix.
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