{{Infobox person

| name = Therese Johannessen

| disappeared_date = {{disappeared date and age|1988|7|3|1979|1|24}}

| disappeared_status = {{missing for|1988|7|3}}

| disappeared_place= [[Fjell]], [[Norway]]<br>{{Infobox mapframe|id=Q12006009}}

| nationality = Norwegian

| known_for = Missing person

}}

The '''Therese Case''' ({{lang-no|Therese-saken}}) is a Norwegian, unsolved disappearance case. The case started in Drammen on 3 July 1988, when nine-year-old '''Therese Johannessen''' disappeared without a trace from her home in [[Fjell]] after going to a nearby kiosk to buy sweets. Despite an extensive police investigation and a number of search operations, Therese Johannessen has never been found.<ref name="doeNetwork">{{Cite web |website=[[The Doe Network]] |url=https://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/1093dfnor.html |quote=Missing Since: July 3, 1988 [...] Therese has never been located. |access-date=12 October 2023 |title=1093DFNOR - Therese Johannessen}}</ref>

The police have been convinced that the disappearance is a criminal case, and in 1998 Swede [[Sture Bergwall]] was convicted in the case after confessing to having abducted and killed the nine-year-old.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heath |first=Chris |date=29 July 2013 |title=The Serial Killer Has Second Thoughts: The Confessions of Thomas Quick |url=https://www.gq.com/story/thomas-quick-serial-killer-august-2013 |access-date=3 October 2023 |website=www.gq.com}}</ref> Quickly later he retracted the confession,<ref>{{cite web |website=The Local |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218093752/http://www.thelocal.se/16350/20081215/ |archive-date=18 December 2008 |date=15 December 2008 |access-date=12 October 2023 |url=http://www.thelocal.se/16350/20081215/ |title=Quick retracts serial murder confessions}}</ref> and the Swedish public prosecutor's office overturned the sentence in March 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |website=[[HuffPost|The Huffington Post]]<!-- Known as "The Huffington Post" at the time --> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130803184200/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/31/sture-bergwall_n_3681780.html |archive-date=3 August 2013 |access-date=12 October 2023 |date=31 July 2013 |first=Karl |last=Ritter |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/31/sture-bergwall_n_3681780.html |title=Sture Bergwall Case: Prosecutors Drop Last Remaining Charges Against Suspected Swedish Serial Killer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801200328/http://www.thelocal.se/49360/20130731/ |archive-date=1 August 2013 |date=31 July 2013 |access-date=12 October 2023 |title=Sweden drops final 'serial killer' murder charge |url=http://www.thelocal.se/49360/20130731/}}</ref> The case has been re-investigated a number of times, most recently in 2013. In July of the same year, the disappearance - as a criminal case - was criminally time-barred, as a result of the then 25-year time limit for serious criminal cases. Any perpetrator or perpetrators will therefore not be punished in the case.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Day |first=Elizabeth |date=20 October 2012 |editor-last=Reed |editor-first=Betsy |title=Thomas Quick: the Swedish serial killer who never was |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/20/thomas-quick-bergwall-sweden-murder |url-status= |access-date=3 October 2023 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

In 2020, [[NRK]] broadcasted a series about the Therese Case, called "{{Translation|Therese - the girl who disappeared}}". It was produced by Monster Media.<ref>{{Cite web |website=[[NRK]] |url=https://tv.nrk.no/serie/therese-jenta-som-forsvant |title=Therese - jenta som forsvant |access-date=12 October 2023}}</ref>

== Disappearance ==

On the evening of Sunday, 3 July 1988,<ref name="doeNetwork" /> nine-year-old Therese Johannessen (born 1979) was playing outside the block where she lived, in Lauritz Hervigs vei 74 A on Fjell in Drammen. Among other things, she played with her little sister and visited a kiosk in a nearby shopping center several times. At 19.25 it started to rain heavily in the area, and Therese went to the kiosk for the third and last time. The woman who worked in the kiosk saw Therese leave the business and continue down a nearby walkway. This is the last confirmed sighting of the nine-year-old. Therese Johannessen was then wearing a pink t-shirt, denim skirt and moccasins.

== References ==

<references />

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{{Draft categories|

[[:Category:Murder in 1988]]

[[:Category:Murder in Norway]]

[[:Category:Unsolved crimes in Norway]]

[[:Category:Missing person cases in Norway]]

}}