Riina Mäkinen

Status:

Open

Missing From:

Loviisa, Uusimaa

Summary:

Riina Mäkinen (born September 15, 1997) went missing in Loviisa on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. She was last seen at Tokmanni in Loviisa, where she had stopped on the way to Helsinki with a male acquaintance. Later that same day, a burned vehicle in which Mäkinen had been traveling was found in a nearby forest. She has not been found.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

On May 8, 2017, Riina Mäkinen and a man named Jani left to take a stolen boat to Kuopio. Jani had recently been released from jail and picked up Mäkinen at Helsinki's Itäkeskus shopping center. During the trip they also stole another boat, which they attached to the car. On May 10, 2017, the pair left Kuopio heading back toward Helsinki. Mäkinen and the man stopped at Kuninkaantie ABC and nearby Tokman in Loviisa, where security camera footage recorded the last confirmed sighting of Mäkinen. Smoke rose from the forest in Loviisa's Vanhakylä around 2:30–3:30 PM. According to Jani's account, the car caught fire because the electrical system couldn't handle their attempts to start the engine by revving it. Spray paint cans in the car exploded from the heat, and the sounds attracted a man walking his dogs in a nearby field. He reported seeing the burned car and two soot-covered people—a man and a woman. The last confirmed sighting of 19-year-old Riina occurred on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in early evening in a remote forest road in Loviisa's Vanhakylä, seen with a man in his thirties near the burned car. This observation was made by chance by someone walking their dog. According to Jani's account, when police arrived, he and Riina fled into the forest and hid in a rock crevice. After police left, they had an argument about drugs and Riina left in anger. Jani said he walked some distance after her but then went another direction, and he never saw her again after that.

Additional Details:

Riina Mäkinen was 19 years old at the time of her disappearance, originally from Helsinki and trained as a youth coordinator. Her family included at least a mother, two sisters, and a brother. In August 2016, Riina was taken into investigative custody on suspicion of attempted murder. Later it was revealed that the perpetrator had been Riina's friend. She was held in isolation at a women's prison for 39 days. She was convicted of possession of an object suitable for harming another because she had a knife that her 17-year-old friend used to stab a 50-year-old man in the abdomen. A verdict was handed down in April 2017, just over a month before Riina's disappearance. In May 2017, Riina Mäkinen had recently graduated as a youth and leisure guide and was without permanent employment. Before her disappearance, Mäkinen's life circumstances had become more chaotic, and she had resigned from her job at a youth center for this reason. On May 8, 2017, Riina Mäkinen and Jani left to take a boat to Kuopio that Jani had stolen earlier. Jani had just been released from jail and picked up Mäkinen from Helsinki's Itäkeskus. During his arrest, it emerged that Jani would face longer investigative custody for boat thefts. Jani told police the location where he had hidden a gun because he did not want it to fall into the wrong hands. The family learned of Jani's arrest after Mother's Day on May 15, 2017. Jani claimed he only learned of Mäkinen's disappearance while in investigative custody. He met Mäkinen's mother during a weekend visit at Vantaa prison. Mäkinen's mother posted an announcement of her daughter's disappearance on social media on May 24, 2017. The matter had already been reported to police. The burned car in Loviisa forest and the man who operated it were soon connected to Mäkinen's disappearance, after which surveillance camera footage was found and searches in the area began. Police have not suspected Mäkinen's case of involving murder to date. Authorities have also stated to the media that Jani is not suspected of any involvement in Mäkinen's disappearance. Riina has been searched for multiple times in recent years in the Loviisa area. Both police and volunteers have conducted searches. During additional searches conducted in 2019, a knife was found, but investigation revealed it had no connection to the case. Police received multiple tips, but none led to a breakthrough. Her sister Robin-Aleksandra Helenius stated: 'The search for her has been part of my life for as long as until she is found.'" A bag belonging to Riina and socks have been found in the forest. No other items directly linked to Riina have been found. All discovered items have been photographed, and there are hundreds of such photos. On September 3, 2022, a man who had known Mäkinen during her school years reported meeting someone in a Loviisa restaurant named Locale on September 3 who claimed to be Riina Mäkinen.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 17, 2026