This is the story of how one phone call ended the life of an international student.
A man was riding his bike up the shore of Prestwick Beach in Scotland,
on the cool and crisp morning of December the 4th, 2005.
The fresh air from the seawater made for a relaxing ride
when he spotted what looked like a small whale washed up on the shore.
When he approached, to his horror, it turned out to be the body of
a woman lying face down; her bag washed up beside her, belongings intact.
The authorities were called,
and the body was immediately identified as Swedish native Annie Börjesson.
Annie Borjesson was a 30 year-old Swedish woman who had a love for Scotland.
After vacationing there, she decided to move in to study English.
After finishing a scholarship at the Whiskey Heritage Centre in Edinburgh,
she focused on finding a job in the hospitality industry.
Friends and family described her as carefree and positive,
often going out to clubs and partying.
An athletic woman, Annie spent her evenings at the
Murayfield Wanderers rugby club, and liked to go swimming.
She enjoyed singing and performing,
even participating in a band with her siblings.
Her outgoing personality, however, may have been her downfall.
According to Annie’s best friend Maria,
she met a man named Martin Leslie at a local nightclub called Mood.
As a huge fan of rugby,
Annie got along with the supposed ex-rugby player.
He offered her some champagne,
but even though it was declined,
the two spoke for a few hours.
They began dating for a short time before Annie found out he’d been lying.
After the break up, Annie and Maria were hanging out
at the swimming club when they bumped into him.
Annie looked very uncomfortable after he gave her a glare,
mentioning that she was uneasy, now that she knew he lied about his identity.
The true identity of Martin was never revealed.
On December 3rd, 2005,
Annie was set to go back home for Christmas.
She was packed and ready to go,
having finished up her affairs in Scotland for the year.
Around 2:15 PM, her Swedish credit card company
reported two failed attempts at withdrawing money due to insufficient funds,
one for $100 and the other for $50.
Only an hour later, CCTV footage
showed Annie at the airport, 35 miles away.
She spent three minutes in the airport parking lot
before exiting to the walkway, visibly in distress.
There was no record at the airport to show whether
she was trying to purchase a ticket back home to Gothenburg.
Around 3:15 CCTV showed her at the overhead terminal,
but she never boarded a flight.
At 3:19, she is seen leaving the airport,
heading towards the town of Prestwick
and around 4 PM she’s seen about a mile from the water at Prestwick Beach.
The CCTV footage of her actions throughout the day ends there,
and she wasn’t seen again until the next morning,
when her lifeless body washed up on the beach.
Annie’s mother Guje Börjesson,
along with several media outlets,
believed that Annie’s death was not self-inflicted,
but in fact a cover up for something bigger.
Suspicions began when the Swedish Minister asked for the case
to be looked over again only to be refused by Scottish authorities.
Guje noticed inconsistencies in the autopsy report from Scotland
after Annie’s body was returned.
The undertaker at the funeral home in Sweden was surprised
at palm-sized bruises that covered the body’s
right arm, sides, and right behind the ear.
Annie’s beautiful, waist-length blonde hair that she was so
proud of had been chopped short,
almost as if forcibly pulled from her scalp.
The Crown Office in Scotland told Guje the funeral staff
cut Annie’s hair so her family wouldn’t need to see it all matted
in mud and debris from the sea,
but the undertaker in Sweden was skeptical.
Documents relating to Annie’s death are deemed classified,
and both the Swedish and Scottish governments refused to
provide any death records to the family, who turned to medical professionals.
In June 2019, British forensic pathologist
Dr. Stuart Hamilton reviewed the autopsy reports.
There were no mentions of drowning,
nor the bruising in the reports.
Dr. Hamilton explained that it wasn't possible
for a body to be bruised after death,
so it was unlikely that the trauma was due to rocks and objects at sea.
A specialist in Stratford performed a test on the blood
in Annie’s bone marrow, showing that freshwater algae cells
were found rather than marine algae.
Not something that would make sense for a person drowned at sea,
although the freshwater algae could’ve just been from drinking tap water.
The Swedish Authority for forensic medicine refused further
investigation on Annie’s lungs.
Annie’s hand had traces of DNA from an unknown woman,
which could’ve easily been from touching something as simple as a stair railing
or another lead—
something the Crown Office wouldn’t look into.
A concerned man named Andrew Montgomery
reported seeing a person who looked very similar
to Annie from afar on the beach very close to the water.
The man believed the person was contemplating hurting themselves
and made his report after the area was taped off the next morning.
But CCTV footage showed Annie at the airport at the same time,
so this was ruled out by authorities...
Kenneth Roy from the Scottish Review was a key investigator in the case,
but he passed away before he was able to finish his investigation.
In his research, he found that Annie didn’t go home the night before her flight
but instead went to a party in Edinburgh around 10PM.
Nobody knew what happened at the party,
or if she even returned home that night.
Kenneth believed it was possible she might have
arranged to meet someone from the party at the airport.
Guje highly disagrees that Annie would take her own life.
What strong swimmer would choose a watery grave?
Annie had always been a bubbly girl
and had plans to look forward to after getting back home.
She made a hair appointment the day before her flight,
and planned on going Christmas shopping with friends.
On Annie’s person, Swedish library books were found.
She had also paid the following month’s rent to her flat in Edinburgh.
Guje was also concerned that her daughter’s journal was missing—
she never left the house without it.
She kept extra money, her contacts, little poems and phrases she enjoyed.
Annie’s last words to her mother was to say she
had to take care of something and make a decision that might change her life.
The red fleece she was seen wearing in the CCTV footage was never found.
Even though her other belongings were washed up with her,
those were the items that were supposedly lost at sea...
Guje further investigated her daughter’s death,
traveling to Scotland to the very beach her daughter was found on.
After speaking with locals, she learned it wouldn't be possible
for the tide to carry the body to that spot.
However, a marine expert who spoke with SkyNews
revealed that Preswick did experience a higher tide than usual that weekend.
The theory Guje believes the most was a CIA cover up.
Around the time Annie died,
a reporter named Kristina Borjesson published an acclaimed book,
accusing the United States government of misdeeds,
such as transporting political criminals through Prestwick Airport.
Because Annie’s middle name was Kristina
and she was passing through the same day the book was published...
and seven days later, Annie was found dead.
These facts raised red flags for the distraught mother.
Annie’s e-mails were also wiped clean,
as well as her telephone records.
Her family and friends reported getting in contact with
her over the phone, but even missed calls weren’t recorded.
No matter the cause, Annie’s death has had long-term effects on her family.
Her father has suffered from two strokes
and her mother still hasn’t come to terms with losing her daughter.
“I can’t say that I think about her everyday
because I think about her every minute.
She’s always on my mind,”
Guje said in an interview with Scottish Daily Mail.
Her mother visits Annie’s grave, decorating a tableau
by her headstone in elaborate displays each season.
Guje remembers, “she was very brave and not easily scared.
She could handle any situation and she did. Except for this very last one.”