A woman found naked and shot dead in a Zeeland field seven weeks ago will be buried in Terneuzen on Tuesday, without an answer about who she is, police said at the weekend.

The woman’s body was found by a farmer on June 22, and despite 174 tips, police have still failed to identify her.

The woman was naked, with no jewelry and no tattoos or personal possessions. She was aged 50 to 65, is white and has red hair. Her nails and teeth had been well taken care of and at some point in the past she had undergone a hysterectomy and her appendix had been removed, police say.

The woman had been dead for no more a couple of days. A garbage bag with a printed text in French, which is related to the crime, was found at the site.

In the meantime the search for the woman’s identity has been extended to Belgium, France and Germany and her dna has been sent to missing persons data banks across Europe.

We have checked many files of missing people in the Netherlands and Belgium and plan to do so in other countries as well,’ Martine Jacobs, leader of the large-scale investigation team, said. ‘Her DNA, fingerprints and dental information were compared with data files in many European and other countries.

‘We really need the public both in the Netherlands and abroad to be able to identify the woman. This is our key mission right now. Only then we can properly investigate who is responsible for this.’

The police report includes photos of the woman.