FINNISH MURDERS: The Death of Kyllikki Saari (PART 1)

When a small town girl disappears without a trace, it sends shockwaves throughout the community. Kyllikki Saari was a young, pious woman that was well-loved by her parish and town. No one expected that she would go missing, and it would take police a very long time to find answers. 

Her body was found close to her home, with signs of suffering a horrific murder.  What happened to Kyllikki Saari? Who killed her? These questions haunt many people to this very day. 

We will delve deeply into this mystery and attempt to find some answers as to what events transpired in this tragic case. As this is a complex case, and we want to do the best job at covering all the facts, we will have two parts!  

WHO WAS KYLLIKKI SAARI?

Auli Kyllikki Saari was born on 6th December 1935 in the Isojoki area, in south Pohjanmaa, Finland. She had five other siblings and was the second youngest of the family. The two older brothers were Esko and Kalevi, and her three sisters were Alli, Helli and Ritva. The parents, Vilhelmina and Eino Saari, owned a farm house about 10 kilometres away from the town of Isojoki. 

Kyllikki Saari (right) with her three sisters: Alli, Helli and Ritva 

Kyllikki was a happy, go-lucky girl in the company of her family and friends. However, in the company of strangers, she had a quiet and shy demeanour. The young lady was very keen on her faith and loved attending church and devotional events. She was not known to go out dancing and socializing like other seventeen-year-olds. Also, her family did not see her dating or being interested in boys. In fact, Kyllikki told an older neighbour that she wasn't interested in young men or even getting married.

On Sunday, 17 May 1953, Kyllikki Saari attended church in the morning. She returned home just after 1pm and informed her family she was tired and wanted to lie down. This was strange to her parents, as Kyllikki never did that. On top of this, her attitude was solemn and gloomy the entire day.

In the evening, around 6pm, the girl went to a Christian youth event held at a local school just outside of Isojoki. Kyllikki was happy to attend the dance, as she would see her friends and participate in her faith. However, her friend Maiju Yli-Hietala later said that the journey home, after the event, concerned Kyllikki so much that it made her anxious for the entire day. A small relief for the teen was that Maiju would be cycling with her for part of the way when they returned home.

Kyllikki at her confirmation

The church meeting ended at 10pm, and the girls left to go home. They eventually reached the crossroad in the woods, at about 10.30pm, where Maiju was going one way and Kyllikki the other. There was about six kilometres left for her to travel alone. The girls said their final goodbyes and parted. Her last words to Maiju were, "It will work because it has worked before. Bye, Maiju!". 

Kyllikki was still quite nervous. One important note to make is that this area was considered safe and crime-free at that time. So, the teen's anxiety was marked as curious. It was thought that maybe she had a problem with a particular person, instead of a general fear of something bad happening. 

NEVER COMES HOME 

Kyllikki was expected at work on Monday, at the local church parish. Her parents hadn’t seen any signs of her that morning, but they weren't too worried. It was normal for Kyllikki to spend the night at a friend's house. 

Monday turned to Tuesday and Kyllikki was still missing. The Isojoki parish contacted the Saari family to ask why their daughter has missed work for two days in a row. This was very strange for Kyllikki as she was a responsible young lady and enjoyed her job. There was no reason for her to go missing and not inform anyone. It was clear to everyone that something bad must have happened!

Her parents called the police, and the news of Kyllikki's disappearance spread through the region like wildfire. The community was very close-knit and prone to gossip, like any other small, rural area. The police did not have a hard time to find witnesses and piece together the events of the previous evening.

A local labourer, named Jaakko Lähteenmäki (or "Tie-Jaska" as he was known locally), testified that he saw Saari around 10.40pm on the same night. She was passing him on her bicycle. They were heading in opposite directions, so he only managed a brief glance of her. 

The next morning, father and son, Oskari and Vilho Forsby, were delivering milk by horseback. They reported to the police that they had noticed an unusual scene. In the same location that Tie-Jaska reported to have seen Kyllikki, the Forsbys noticed tire marks turning in the road. There was also bicycle tire marks, footsteps, and a lot of broken glass. They said that it looked like there had been a struggle. By the time the police came, traffic from the road had already ruined the traces. Even the glass was gone!

The local community gathered to search the area for any evidence in the case

Other witnesses reported that they had seen a cream-coloured car being driven by two men, with a bicycle in the trunk. This was strange because the car was driving on the same road where Kyllikki disappeared with her bicycle. And it was also at a similar time of evening. One investigation line, after this piece of information was presented to police, was that the young teen was involved in an accident with this car. 

It was speculated that maybe the driver hit her and took her away with the belongings to hide the evidence. But no conclusive answers could be found yet. 

A BREAK IN THE CASE

The police were stuck in the case with no concrete evidence. It was two months later when there was a huge breakthrough!

On 22 July 1953, while picking berries, two witnesses spotted the tire of a bicycle sticking out from a bog. The location was a few hundred meters from the dirt track that the Kyllikki was travelling on. The police took the bike for investigation and confirmed that it belonged to the missing girl. 

A few things were curious about the bike find. The way it was placed suggested that the perpetrator had some criminal smarts! The air was taken out of the wheels and it was placed in a way that the bicycle would sink faster in the bog. After some observations, police noticed that the saddle was still in good condition. 

A curious thing was that the marsh was scanned with a metal detector just a few months ago and nothing had been found. The location and the find suggested that the bike was placed there recently, and that the perp was a local who knew the area well.

Unfortunately, even after police searched high and low, no more evidence was found until October of that year. The police had ordered a thorough search to be made of the bog once more, so more evidence surfaced. The Finnish winter was coming soon, and the area would be buried under layers of snow. The police found one of Kyllikki’s shoes with a man’s sock and her scarf inside. They were tied up with some black string.

The road where Kyllikki went missing

The scarf had bite marks, and there was indication that the girl had been gagged with it. Her other shoe was not far away from the first one. Once more, police were baffled where this new evidence came from. The area had been thoroughly searched in May, when Saari first disappeared. It was starting to become very clear that the police was facing a homicide case. 

On October 11^th, the police continued their search. There were many searchers helping the police in this quest. A few hundred meters away from the dirt road, one of the parties spotted a branch sticking out from the bog. It looked strange, so the man went to investigate. He asked one of his friends to come and help him to pull this branch up. They found that it was sharpened into a point and smelled strongly of decomposition.

Police immediately started to secure the area and dug up the remains of Kyllikki Saari. Finally, after six months, her body was discovered. 

The way the body was buried was also quite smart. The killer had made a pocket in the earth by cutting three sides inside the dirt, where the soil could be lifted. Once he placed the body and put down the soil in place, there was no signs of digging or disturbance.

Some men bring the body out of the bog, including in the party was her father, Eino, and brother, Kalevi

When they finally dug her up, they made several unpleasant observations. Kyllikki’s face and upper body was covered with a jacket. The poor girl had sustained bad injuries to her face, one breast was exposed, and she was naked from the waist down. The branch, which marked the place where her body was found, had pierced her stomach. Her face had two broken cheekbones and a broken nose. Decomposition has settled in, so it was impossible to say how she received the injuries. The coroner suspected a hit with a blunt object such as a rock. Police were not yet sure if she had been sexually assaulted, as a test would be required.

The coroner confirmed that the stick (that pierced her stomach) was placed there some time after the body was hidden. That, along with the fact that her face and torso were covered when she was found, suggested that the killer was feeling remorseful and wanted to be caught. 

He placed the stick there to make it easier for the search party to find the body.

WHO KILLED KYLLIKKI SAARI?

In Part 2, we will investigate the many colourful suspects of this case and debunk (or prove true) the various rumours that surrounded this mystery. This was a shocking event in the community of Isojoki, and one of the first tabloid cases in Finland. It is enough to say that the media attention and public’s interest created some crazy stories and controversies about poor Kyllikki Saari!

References: 

• History of Yesterday: Who Killed 17-Year-Old Kyllikki Saari?
• Iltalehti: Historioitsija: Rippipappi oli saalistaja - selittääkö ”aporttiteoria” Kyllikki Saaren murhan?
• Wikipedia: Kyllikki Saaren murha
• Mysteries Unsolved: The unsolved murder of Auli Kyllikki Saari
• The Mystery Box: Unsolved Mysteries: The Disappearance and Murder of Kyllikki Saari