Abduction Of Tycoon’s Wife May Have Been Faked In Order To Cover Up Her Death, Investigators Say

The wife of a Norwegian millionaire was probably murdered and her apparent abduction on Halloween was likely a cover-up, investigators now say.

Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, 69, vanished on Oct. 31. Her disappearance was originally called an abduction and a ransom note was found in the home she shares with her husband, located east of Oslo. That note stated she would be killed if the ransom,  9 million euros, or $10.2 million, in cryptocurrency, wasn’t paid, according to the Associated Press.

She is the wife of tycoon Tom Hagen, a real estate investor and electric company owner. He is known for being media-shy, the Associated Press reports.

The chief police investigator Tommy Broeske investigating the disappearance said Wednesday that the investigation has taken a turn and its “main hypothesis” has changed, according to the AP. 

Previously, investigators said the so-called kidnappers talked to Tom Hagen on an unanswerable digital platform.

“The most likely is that she has been exposed to a serious crime but we consider it less likely that we are facing abduction with an economic motive. The main hypothesis has been changed to that she has been killed,” Broeske told reporters Wednesday. He added that investigators “cannot exclude a staged kidnapping to hide it.”

No possible motive for why such a thing would have happened was disclosed. Nobody has been named a suspect or person of interest. Last fall, police asked for three men caught on surveillance video outside the businessman's office on the day of the vanishing to speak to them. It’s not clear if they have.

Hagen is one of Norway's wealthiest people. He has a fortune estimated to be nearly 1.7 billion kroner, which is the equivalent of about $200 million.