The 17-year-old girl had just finished her shift at the cafe where she worked weekends, texted her father that she was leaving, and then vanished into the warm June evening without a single trace. Within minutes, her father received a call from her phone, but when he answered, there was only silence, the faint sound of a car door slamming shut, and then nothing. This was the moment that would shatter a family, galvanize a nation, and ultimately lead to the largest search operation in modern Swedish history, a case that would change the entire country forever.
Lisa Holm was born on February 7, 1998, in the small, peaceful Swedish town of Hova, where she lived with her parents and older sister. She was described by everyone who knew her as a kind, positive, and determined young woman, someone who had already set her sights on studying architecture in Australia and had been working various part-time jobs since her teenage years to earn her own money. In the summer of 2015, at just 17 years old, she landed her first serious job at a cafe located about a 40-minute drive from her home, a job that would ultimately lead her into the path of a predator.
For the first few weeks, her parents drove her to and from the cafe, but her father soon decided to buy her a scooter as a gift, wanting her to have the independence to commute on her own. She had a license for the scooter, while she could not get a car license until she turned 18, and she was thrilled with the gift. However, for the first few weeks, her father still accompanied her in his car, as she had almost no experience driving on the roads.
This routine continued until June 7, 2015, when her father finally felt confident enough to let her drive to the cafe alone.
Earlier that day, around lunchtime, her parents had decided to visit her at work and have lunch together. The cafe was crowded, and Lisa was incredibly busy, but she took a short break to have a snack with her parents before they returned home. At 6:23 p.
m. , Lisa texted her father to say she was leaving work. Three minutes later, at 6:26 p.
m. , her father received a call from her. He picked up, but no one answered.
He heard voices in the background and thought Lisa had accidentally dialed his number, perhaps talking to her colleagues. Then he heard the distinct sound of a car door slamming shut. He called her name several times but got no response, so he ended the call and began waiting for her to arrive home.
An hour passed, and Lisa did not come home. Her parents began to worry. It was her first time riding the scooter alone, and her father was deeply concerned about her safety.
He tried calling her several times, but her phone was turned off. After waiting a few more minutes, he decided to drive along the route himself, hoping to meet her on the road. He drove slowly, scanning the road for any sign of his daughter, but she was nowhere to be found.
He eventually reached the cafe, and upon arriving, he noticed her scooter parked in front of the building. He was initially relieved, thinking she might have been delayed at work, but the cafe was empty. Then he noticed something deeply troubling: the scooter keys were still in the ignition, and her helmet was hanging from the handlebar.
Lisa would never have left her keys in the scooter or abandoned it unattended.
Meanwhile, Lisa’s mother called the cafe owner, hoping for some information about her daughter’s whereabouts. The owner claimed she had no idea where Lisa could have gone and said she had called her employees around 6:00 p. m.
, and they had told her they were closing the cafe. After the call from Lisa’s mother, the cafe owner immediately got into her car and drove to the cafe, calling four friends who lived nearby to help with the search. When she arrived, they joined Lisa’s father in searching the establishment and the surrounding area.
Their last hope was that Lisa might have decided to take a bus instead of the scooter, but when they checked the schedule and her mother and sister drove to the bus stop in their town, that version was not confirmed. Lisa was not on the bus.
By that time, it was almost 1:00 a. m. , and it was already dark outside.
Her relatives immediately contacted the police. The police launched extensive searches immediately, recognizing that the fact that Lisa’s scooter was left in the parking lot with the keys in the ignition suggested the possibility of abduction. Cases like this are extremely rare in Sweden, especially in the remote provincial area where Lisa’s town was located.
Police dispatched several groups with search dogs, while other officers began knocking on every house near the cafe. When Lisa’s classmates and friends learned of her disappearance, they began spreading information on social media, hoping to attract attention and find witnesses. The search continued all night, but it yielded no results.
On Monday morning, the police department publicly announced Lisa’s disappearance, urging anyone with useful information to come forward. Around the same time, a man who came to work at a barn directly across from the cafe discovered a motorcycle glove on the floor and reported it to the police. Detectives had already inspected the barn on the evening of Lisa’s disappearance but had not noticed the glove.
They showed it to Lisa’s parents, who confirmed that it belonged to their daughter. This further supported the abduction theory, and police deployed additional resources for the search. By that time, news of Lisa’s disappearance had spread throughout the country, and hundreds of volunteers joined the search.
On Tuesday, police received several more alarming clues. Volunteers searching the area along a dirt road located a few hundred yards from the cafe found a phone case, a receipt, a ticket, and a broken smartphone screen. Investigators immediately determined that all of these items belonged to Lisa and focused the search in that area.
Soon, they found other parts of the broken smartphone, Lisa’s ID, and several more receipts, all scattered along the same dirt road. After the discovery of these pieces of evidence, the police became almost certain that Lisa had been abducted. They threw all available resources into the search, and with each passing day, more and more people joined.
This case became the main news topic in Sweden, and hundreds of volunteers flocked from all over the country to participate. A local volunteer organization specializing in finding missing people also joined the effort. All of this made Lisa’s search operation the largest in the country’s modern history, with over a thousand people participating in total.
The police also received numerous calls with tips. One woman recounted that she had gone for a jog the day before Lisa’s disappearance and was stopped by a man standing next to his car in the middle of the road. He spoke to her in English and asked for directions to a city she had never heard of.
She tried to show him the way on Google Maps, but the man asked her to get into his car and show the route on his navigator. Naturally, the woman found this request suspicious and refused, continuing her run. She also shared one interesting detail: she believed she had already seen this man among the workers who were repairing the same barn located across the road from the cafe.
Lisa’s colleagues also shared an observation on the day of her disappearance. One witness noticed two men standing across the road from the cafe, looking toward the establishment. She did not think much of it at the time, but after Lisa’s disappearance, she decided to share this fact with the police.
On Wednesday morning, Lisa’s father, along with some friends, went to search the dirt road where her belongings had been found. Walking a bit further, he made several more alarming discoveries: he found Lisa’s driver’s license and her house keys. It all seemed as if Lisa was being taken along this road away from the cafe, while the abductor was throwing her belongings out of their car or vehicle.
The police and volunteers concentrated all their efforts on this area, but no other items were found. That same evening, a friend of Lisa’s father was returning home from the search, passing by the cafe, and noticed that the police tape had been removed from the barn where Lisa’s glove was found. The man decided to go inside and look for any other clues.
He grabbed a flashlight from his car, as it was already getting dark, and walked around the premises for several minutes until something shiny on the floor caught his attention. When he looked closer, he saw a woman’s earring, and then another one just like it nearby. The man reported this to the police, who showed the earrings to Lisa’s parents.
They confirmed that these pieces of jewelry belonged to their daughter. The police once again sealed off the barn and searched it more thoroughly.
The lead detective later explained that on the first day of Lisa’s search, their main focus was on finding the girl herself, so the barn was not inspected as thoroughly. They might have missed small items like earrings. But now they brought in numerous forensic experts along with search dogs.
This time, they noticed a rather unusual piece of evidence behind one of the walls: human feces. At first glance, it seemed unrelated to the case, but the forensic experts put forward a quite interesting theory. They explained that when criminals commit serious and horrible crimes, their body produces an extreme amount of adrenaline, which sometimes leads to the uncontrollable need to relieve themselves.
For example, it is common for killers to wet themselves before or during murder. Considering that Lisa’s glove and earrings were found in the barn, the police theorized that if she was indeed abducted, the perpetrator might have dragged her into this building. Therefore, detectives did not rule out the possibility that this person, under the influence of adrenaline, could not hold it and relieved themselves.
These feces were sent for DNA analysis.
On Friday, the search area was expanded, and volunteers reached a farm located about two miles from the cafe. It was a complex of several large buildings where many people worked, and the search team decided to inspect them all. However, shortly after they arrived, two men came to the farm.
They did not speak Swedish and communicated only in English. One of them said that the police had already been at this farm, but the search team leader did not rush to believe it. He thought he would have known about it if that were the case, so he decided to continue the search.
The two men walked around the farm for a while, watching the volunteers, and eventually drove away. About an hour later, members of the search team found a pile of branches behind the cowshed. Under it, they found a motorcycle helmet, a jacket, and headphones.
The police immediately arrived at the scene and confirmed that all these items belonged to Lisa. They sent forensic experts to the farm for a more thorough search.
Detectives also heard the story about the two strange men who tried to dissuade the volunteers from inspecting the farm. The police also recalled the story of the woman who encountered a suspicious man speaking English while jogging. In fact, they already had an idea who it might be from the first days of the search.
They had visited all the houses near the cafe, and in one of them lived two brothers from Lithuania along with the wife of one of them. All three did not speak Swedish and communicated in English. They were the only people within several miles who did not speak the local language.
The police also had other indirect reasons to suspect them. The brothers worked in the barn across the road from the cafe and at the farm where Lisa’s helmet was found. They were familiar with these locations, and the dirt road where Lisa’s belongings were found led to their house.
Considering that there were no other suspects, the police decided to question all three of them.
Meanwhile, forensic experts arrived at the farm together with the volunteers. They continued to inspect the area, and soon their attention was drawn to an old trailer. It was surrounded by tall grass and looked as if it had not been used in many years.
But next to its door, the grass was flattened, as if something had been lying there recently. Some of the grass was also trapped under the door, indicating that it had been recently opened. As soon as the forensic experts opened the door, they were immediately met with a strong smell of decay.
Inside the trailer, there were many lockers for clothing, apparently once used as a changing room for workers. All the lockers except one were locked, leading the experts to suspect that Lisa’s body might be in one of them. They began opening each locker and eventually saw that Lisa’s body was actually in one that was left open, hidden behind a pile of old clothes and rags.
Despite the small size of the locker, the perpetrator managed to fit their victim inside. Lisa had a rope around her neck and a large amount of tape over her head. Her pants were pulled down, and her shirt was pulled up.
Medical experts determined that Lisa died from strangulation, but they found no signs of sexual assault. All of her clothing was handed over to the lab.
News of the discovery of her body spread rapidly throughout the country. All this time, the news of Lisa’s abduction had dominated headlines in Sweden, and when her body was found and the public learned of her brutal murder, the case shook the entire country. Such crimes were extremely rare in Sweden, and people were shocked that someone could commit such a heinous act.
On the same day that her body was discovered, something unusual and rather eerie occurred. YouTube users stumbled upon a video posted 13 days before the murder. The video was titled 13, and it featured a countdown timer.
What was most unsettling was the name of the channel that uploaded the video: it was called Lisa Holm. News of this video quickly spread throughout the media, leaving many people stunned by the series of coincidences. Some people began to speculate that someone had predicted the murder, but in reality, it turned out to be much simpler.
It appeared that someone had just changed the channel name and video title after Lisa’s body was found. Either this person wanted to spark another conspiracy theory or was just playing a cruel prank.
Meanwhile, the police were doing everything in their power to find the killer as quickly as possible. At the time of Lisa’s discovery, investigators had already brought in two brothers and a woman, and they all denied any involvement in the murder. They claimed that at the time of the abduction, they were at home, providing alibis for each other.
According to their accounts, the older brother, Nerijus, was asleep in his room while his wife was preparing dinner, and the younger brother was on the computer. Nerijus also added that around 8:00 p. m.
, he woke up and went to the gas station, where he bought pizza and cigarettes. The police were pretty skeptical of their alibis, as all three could have simply been covering for each other. They collected their DNA samples, but investigators still lacked any evidence directly linking any of them to the murder.
However, this did not last long. Forensic experts were working in the barn and on the farm, utilizing all available resources and manpower, and soon their efforts paid off.
In the barn, there was a small office-like room. It had a large window overlooking the cafe. Upon examining this room, experts discovered 15 different traces of male semen on the walls and floor near this window.
It appeared as if someone had stood there watching the cafe employees, including Lisa, and satisfying themselves. These semen samples were immediately sent to the laboratory, and experts quickly extracted DNA profiles from them. All 15 semen traces matched the DNA of the older brother, 35-year-old Nerijus.
The same applied to the feces found in the barn; they also belonged to him. In the next room, which had previously been used for storing cow’s milk, forensic experts noticed a pipe about two feet above the floor, covered in a thick layer of dust except for a small strip. The size of this strip perfectly matched the rope used to strangle Lisa.
Traces of blood were also found on this pipe, and DNA analysis confirmed it belonged to Nerijus. On the floor beneath the pipe, they discovered a piece of the same rope. Experts examined it and identified two DNA profiles: Lisa’s and Nerijus’s.
This was a significant breakthrough for the police, as it finally linked the man to the rope used to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 the victim. Furthermore, a hair belonging to Lisa was found on the floor of this room. Another crucial piece of evidence came from her jacket; DNA traces belonging to Nerijus were also found on it.
Based on this evidence, the police believed that she was killed right there. They pieced together an approximate sequence of events. Nerijus had been observing the cafe for some time, and when Lisa was alone in the parking lot, he approached her.
Based on the jogger’s account, he could have asked Lisa for directions to a certain city or used some other tactic. Then Nerijus might have asked her to get into his car to enter the route into the GPS system. Considering Lisa was kind-hearted and always tried to help others, she might have agreed.
Once she was in the car, the perpetrator taped her mouth shut and drove her to the barn. There, he wrapped the rope around her neck and hung her from the pipe. According to the medical experts, this act likely excited him so much that he defecated on the floor due to an adrenaline rush.
When she died, he placed Lisa’s body in the car and drove to the farm, tossing her belongings out the window along the way. There, he hid the body in the trailer locker, covering it with old clothes scattered around. All of this, from the moment of the abduction, took the perpetrator less than an hour.
Despite all the evidence, Nerijus continued to insist on his innocence. His wife and younger brother had to be released because there was nothing against them. Once free, they almost immediately left Sweden and returned to their homeland, Lithuania.
The preparation for the trial was intense. Nerijus claimed he had worked in that barn for a long time, suggesting his DNA could have been present there due to his job. Additionally, he had an alibi provided by his wife and brother, although there were serious doubts about the credibility of both sources.
In court, this could have definitely worked in his favor. On the other hand, the presence of Nerijus’s DNA on the victim’s clothing could only be explained by direct contact with her on the day of the murder. The police also found a witness who saw his car near the cafe shortly before and after Lisa’s abduction.
According to them, the car passed along the road between the cafe and the farm several times at the same time when Nerijus was supposed to be sleeping at home according to his brother and wife.
For several months after the discovery of her body, experts continued to examine all the available evidence using the most advanced equipment. Eventually, they uncovered traces of Nerijus’s DNA on almost all of Lisa’s clothing, including the inside of her underwear. Considering that the whole country was still following the case, investigators continued to search for any other useful clues that could impact the legal process and further prove Nerijus’s involvement.
They even went to Lithuania to speak with his wife and brother once again. The woman continued to insist that he did not leave the house between 6:00 and 8:00 p. m.
, but when it was the younger brother’s turn, detectives suddenly got what they wanted. After telling him about all the evidence against his brother and detailing what he did with the 17-year-old girl, the man decided to tell them everything. He claimed that Nerijus actually was not at home that evening and only returned around 7:30 p.
m. He was covered in dirt and immediately threw all his clothes into the washing machine. When the police started to question all the residents and reach their house, Nerijus whispered to his brother, tell them I was home at that time.
Later, Nerijus explained that he was afraid he would be framed for a crime he didn’t commit because he was an immigrant and had no alibi for the time of the abduction. The younger brother truly believed that his relative had nothing to do with it, but after hearing about all the evidence, he realized it was not the case.
Lisa’s funeral took place only a month after her murder. The church where it was held could only accommodate 130 people, but there were many more who came to say goodbye to her. Organizers even decided to set up benches and large screens outside so that everyone could watch the ceremony.
The trial began four months after the murder. This case once again captured the attention of the entire country, so everyone involved in the process was under tremendous pressure. None of them had the right to make a mistake.
Nerijus’s lawyer insisted that his client’s DNA could have ended up on the victim’s clothing because he had worked in the barn. The prosecution, however, pointed out that this version made no sense, especially in the case of Lisa’s underwear. The only way the suspect’s DNA could have ended up there was if he touched the victim’s underwear.
The lawyer could not provide any other solid facts pointing to his client’s innocence. At one point, he tried to push the version that the real murderer was Nerijus’s younger brother. According to this theory, the brother somehow took multiple samples of Nerijus’s DNA and placed them on the victim’s body as well as at the crime scene.
However, the lawyer failed to explain the possibility of such manipulations with the DNA.
The trial lasted for a month, and Nerijus was found guilty of murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in a high-security prison. Given that this is Sweden, the facility resembled more of a decent three-star hotel.
His lawyer attempted to appeal the verdict, but the appeal was rejected in early 2017. Nerijus himself applied for deportation and transfer to a prison in his homeland. The reasons for this decision were unknown.
Lithuanian prisons are significantly worse than Swedish ones, yet the court decided to approve his request after all, as providing comfortable conditions of detention costs Swedish taxpayers several hundred dollars per day for each individual inmate. Later that same year, his motives became clear. He appealed to a Lithuanian court, and his sentence was reduced from life to 15 years.
However, the joy was short-lived for the murderer. A few weeks later, the court overturned his decision, and Nerijus was once again destined to spend his entire life in prison. Only now, he had no chance of returning to the comfortable Swedish cell.
Five years later, in August 2022, Nerijus faced yet another downside of being transferred to a Lithuanian prison. While inmates were being moved to another block, one of them attacked Nerijus with a shank. He suffered serious injuries and died on the way to the hospital.
As for his wife, the question of her involvement is still not entirely ruled out. Police noted that there is practically no chance of her direct involvement in the abduction or murder, as in that case, experts would have found her DNA on Lisa’s clothing or belongings. However, it cannot be ruled out that she knew of her husband’s crime and helped him evade justice by providing a false alibi.
Nerijus’s younger brother also raises questions. Cafe employees reported seeing two men standing near the barn and watching them. Considering that one of them was likely Nerijus himself, the second should have been his brother.
However, the man’s DNA was not found either in the barn itself or on Lisa’s clothing, making his involvement in the murder unlikely. Perhaps they were indeed observing the young employees, with the older brother even discussing inappropriate things, but only Nerijus decided to commit such a heinous crime.
The case of Lisa Holm forever changed Sweden. It 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓭 the vulnerability of young people in quiet, peaceful towns and sparked a national conversation about safety, immigration, and the justice system. The largest search operation in the country’s history, the overwhelming public response, and the 𝓈𝒽𝓸𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 details of the murder forced Swedes to confront a reality they had long believed did not exist in their country.
The case also highlighted the complexities of international justice, as the perpetrator’s transfer to Lithuania led to a reduced sentence that was later overturned, only for him to meet a violent end in prison. For Lisa’s family, the pain of losing their daughter in such a brutal way will never fully heal, but the closure brought by the conviction and the knowledge that her killer faced consequences provided some measure of justice. The legacy of Lisa Holm lives on in the changes to how missing person cases are handled in Sweden, in the increased awareness of the dangers that can lurk in even the most idyllic settings, and in the memory of a kind, determined young woman who dreamed of studying architecture in Australia and whose life was cut tragically short.
