Who was Birgit Meier? Past life explored ahead of Netflix's 'Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier' premiere

A photo of Birgit Meier (Image via The SUN)

Netflix's latest documentary, Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier, follows the unsolved case of Birgit Meier's vanishing 31 years ago.

Birgit Meier was a German woman who suddenly went missing in 1989 and the police have not been able to solve her case to this day. However, her brother is still on a tireless quest to find the truth.

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Who was Birgit Meier and what happened to her?

Birgit Meier, a 40-year-old German woman, was a photographer and was married to a successful entrepreneur, Harald. She lived in an apartment in the small town of Breitling, Lower Saxony. Birgit was in the middle of a divorce when she disappeared. Before she vanished, her husband was meant to make an appearance to clarify the details about their separation.

According to the pair's agreement, Birgit was to receive a settlement of 500,000 DM from her husband. This was considered a precedent for investigation. Following her disappearance, Harald became an immediate suspect as the police assumed that he had a concrete reason to harm her.

A suicide was also considered a possibility by investigators, but Birgit's body was nowhere to be found.

Unfortunately, her investigation stalled due to lack of leads and evidence. It also ruled out her husband Harald as a suspect.

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When did Birgit Meier disappear?

Birgit went missing on 14 August 1989 but the crime against her was reinvestigated due to a request by her brother, policeman Wolfgang Sielaf. In fact, the latter began his own private search. In 2017, her remains were recovered from under the concrete floor of a house's garage on the outskirts of Lüneburg. The property has been occupied by Kurt-Werner Wichmann in the past.

In 2018, an autopsy report from Hannover Medical School revealed that Birgit was shot and according to the Lüneberg Police President, Robert Kruse, she was a victim of a serial killer who may have murdered people beyond Germany.

Lüneberg Police President Robert set up a new six-member investigation force after Birgit's murder, keeping Kurt-Werner Wichmann as a suspect. Wichmann was a serial killer responsible for the Göhrde Murders, connecting himself to 24 other murder victims besides Birgit. He was mainly responsible for homicides and cases surrounding missing persons.

Although Kurt-Werner Wichmann killed himself in April 1993, investigators featured the case again on Aktenzeichen XY ungelöst TV in 2018. The possibility of the serial killer having a helper or confidant was cited as the reason.

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Series adaptation of the unsolved mystery

Directed by Nicolas Steiner, Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier is a docu-series on the disappearance of Birgit Meier. The series follows the investigation of a case that has remained unsolved for over 31 years. Interestingly, new research has unearthed a possible suspect.

The official synopsis for Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier reads:

"Birgit Meier disappears, but the police have other concerns. Only Wolfgang Sielaff - her brother and himself a police detective - suspects that she is the victim of a brutal crime. The search of a suspect's house brings some gruesome things to light."

The official trailer for the docu-series was released last week with its premiere on 26 November 2021, exclusively on Netflix. Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier stars Frederic Heidorn as serial killer Kurt-Werner Wichman and consists of a total of 4 episodes.

Stream Dig Deeper: The Disappearance of Birgit Meier, now on Netflix, and explore the curious case of Birgit Meier.