The Twisted Mystery Of Jennifer Fergate

On May 31, 1995, a woman walked into the Oslo Plaza Hotel, a male companion at her side. The hotel was a hot spot for the rich and famous who came to Norway. Security should have been strict. But the woman and man were allowed to check in without showing ID or leaving a credit card on file. 

The reservation was under the name Jennifer Fairgate, but the woman signed her name Jennifer Fergate. Her companion called himself Lois Fergate. After getting their room assignment, 2805, the pair scurried off to their suite. 

Her male companion was never seen again. Some people have questioned whether he was even with Jennifer. There was no sign of him ever being in the hotel room with her. When questioned, the hotel employee who checked them in couldn't give a description of him. 

There were also questions about why the guests were allowed to check in without having their identification checked. While not uncommon in some places, in Oslo it was required for everyone since it was a major tourist destination and a hotbed for criminal activity. 

These missteps made it nearly impossible for hotel security and later the local police to determine the real identity of the woman. Further complications included the discovery that there was no woman named Jennifer Fairgate nor the alternative spelling Fergate reported missing. Nor could they find anyone with that name period. 

Jennifer Fergate was an enigma with no solution.

The Room Where It Happened

Not much was heard from the woman after she checked in. Fergate ordered room service on Friday, June 2nd and had the bill added to her tab. The following day, a hotel manager called the room to tell her that her credit was up and needed to come down to pay up, but there was no answer. 

The manager sent a guard up to talk to her. Espen Næss went up to the room. He knocked on the door. Right after that, he heard a loud sound coming from the room. Not knowing what it was, he decided to go ask the head of security what to do. 

Once back with the manager, they call the police. Næss tells them that he heard a gunshot or something that sounded very close to one. The head of security revealed that the woman in the room tried to contact the front desk multiple times using a feature on the TV. 

Shortly after their call to the cops, the security manager got the key card to get into the room. He got to the room and discovered that the door was double-locked. It didn't take long for him to get past the extra security.

When he opened the door, he found the body of Jennifer Fergate. The room was dark, but light streamed in from the closed curtains. He saw the woman and noted that she was posed in an unnatural position. 

After taking his notes, the security manager stepped out of the room. When the police got there, he informed them of everything he saw. And set off a mystery that persists to this day. 

More Questions Than Answers

Police began to investigate. As they pulled the information together, nothing made sense. The man who had been with Fergate was nowhere to be found. There was no record of him ever existing. 

Nor was there anything to confirm the identity of Jennifer Fergate. They even tried to use different spellings like Fairgate to see if information could be found. There was nothing. It was as if the woman didn't exist. 

In the room, investigators assumed that they would be able to find something to identify the woman. However, they hit a dead end. There were no passports, driver's license, or anything else that might help uncover her identity. 

There were a couple of phone numbers. Officers tried to call them, but they were disconnected and a wrong number. They attempted to use the address that the woman gave to a hotel but learned that it did not exist. 

Investigators were puzzled. This woman seemed to be hiding something, but why didn't she want anyone to know who she was? 

Deciding to try a different tactic, they ran Fergate's fingerprints through Interpol. They hoped this would at least give them a lead on finding out who the woman was, but again they came up with nothing. 

One hotel worker was surprised at how everything unfolded. She said that there were strict policies in place that should have prevented this, starting with the woman being forced to hand over a credit card. Fergate should have also been asked for her passport, but somehow got around that requirement. 

Theories and speculation started to drown out the actual investigation. 

A Decision Is Made

The man who was with Fergate seemed to be the last available lead to find out her identity. However, police began to question whether he was really in the hotel room with her at all. They pointed out that there were hardly any clothes at all, but the outfits that were in the room belonged to a woman, there were no men's clothes.

While one neighbor did report hearing two people fighting in room 2805, there was barely any proof that Fergate was with a man, let alone the one seen at check in. Still, hotel clerks doubled down on the claim that they saw a man with her the first day but admitted that it was busy. 

Police then began looking at the evidence they were able to collect. The gun that ended Fergate's life was in the possession, but it added to the mystery, the serial number was completely wiped off it. 

This suggested that the gun was bought on the black market or stolen from someone. But tracing it was nearly impossible. They began to theorize that Jennifer Fergate did not want anyone to know who she was or where she came from. 

But investigators were determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. During the forensic investigation, it was determined that while there were fingerprints on the gun, they could not be lifted. The way the gun was held made it difficult and the surface of the gun was rough, adding to the complexity of the task. 

Then the Norwegian government closed the case by ruling that Jennifer Fergate committed suicide. 

Picking Up The Case

After the decision, police stopped investigating the case. Yet, interest in the mystery of Jennifer Fergate never waned. It got a lot of media attention, particularly when it was a segment on Unsolved Mysteries. 

Reporters began going back and asking hotel workers questions. One room service worker noted that between Thursday and Friday, Jennifer Fergate left the hotel and didn't return for more than 24 hours. 

This was supported when a report about how often she used her key card was pulled. There were only five instances of her using the card to come into the room. 

Also being noted is that there was an ironing board in the room. This was not a typical accommodation for the hotel. Nobody remembered her asking for one, but it did seem to be property of the establishment. It wasn't uncommon for guests to ask for one, so it could have been an oversight. 

But the reporters began to ask why the police hadn't taken it as something odd. Especially as there were very few clothes in the room in the first place. 

The police also didn't bother to talk to everyone on the floor. In the room across the hall, a man was scheduled to stay for about a week. However, he left shortly after the death of Fergate. He gave no reason for his early departure

Another weird piece is that during the autopsy, there was undigested food in her system, the meal Fergate ordered the previous evening. Why would she have eaten, if she intended to take her own life? There were also no indications of her consuming alcohol or drugs. 

Investigators also didn't ask the coroner to check under Fergate's nails. An odd lapse for them to make, especially since they seemed intent on solving the mystery. 

As the questions piled up, reporters began to wonder if the government was covering something up. 

Questioning Mr. F

Mr. F is the moniker designated to the man who was in the room across the hall from Jennifer Fergate. He claimed to have left BEFORE the murder took place, but there are inconsistencies in his story. 

When reporters first contacted him about Fergate's death, he said that he knew about it. He shared that he was asked about it when he was in the lobby by hotel staff. And that he didn't know anything about it. 

Then his story flipped to him leaving before everything happened. When pressed about how he could have been questioned in this scenario, the man stopped talking to everyone. 

As with everything else with the case, this adds another layer of questions that may never be answered. 

In November 2016, Fergate's body was exhumed in the hopes of getting DNA and using new technology to identify her. It has not yielded the hoped for results yet. 

The mystery of Jennifer Fergate's death continues to confound and confuse those who try to solve it. There is hope, though, with several mysteries being solved that took decades to find the answers.