Norwegian police suspect Swedish-linked man in Anne-Elisabeth Hagen disappearance

A 50-year-old Norwegian man with ties to Sweden has been named as a suspect in the 2018 disappearance of Anne-Elisabeth Hagen, one of Norway’s most high-profile unsolved cases, norska TV2 reports.

The suspect, described by Norwegian police as a known criminal with prior convictions including economic crimes, recently relocated from a city in western Sweden to Lørenskog—the Oslo suburb where Hagen vanished. Norwegian broadcaster TV2’s crime reporter Magnus Braaten told SVT the man had been under police surveillance for some time and was “well known to authorities,” having served multiple prison sentences.

Police confirmed the man is suspected of murder or accessory to murder but declined to specify evidence beyond a seizure of unspecified materials linked to the investigation. “At present, we see no reason for further legal measures beyond the seizure,” lead investigator Guro Holm Hansen told NRK.

The suspect’s defense attorney, Victoria Holmen, stated the allegations appear based solely on his presence in Lørenskog at the time of Hagen’s disappearance. “When police seize telecom data or other personal information from a citizen, that person automatically gains suspect status,” Holmen said.

Hagen, wife of billionaire Tom Hagen, disappeared in October 2018 after police received extortion demands for millions in cryptocurrency. Though initially a person of interest, Tom Hagen was later cleared. The case remains classified as a murder investigation, with Hagen’s body never found.