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English-Speaking Teen From Forest Stumps Berlin Cops

'Ray' says he recently buried his father and is all alone

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff | Suggested by Larry-Crehore

Posted Sep 20, 2011 4:01 PM CDT

(Newser) – He says he's been living in the forest for years, his parents are gone, and he doesn’t know where he came from. Identified only as “Ray,” a teenage boy arrived in Berlin’s City Hall two weeks ago and remains a mystery to police. On arrival, the boy, who spoke fluent English but little German, held a backpack and sleeping bag. “He didn't look like at all like a vagrant,” said an English-speaking worker who met with him. “His clothes were clean but he simply didn't know anything about who he was.”

All he knew was his first name and his age—17, the Telegraph reports. “He said he needed help, that he didn't know where to go and had no one in the world to look after him,” the official said. The boy reported that he’d been traveling with his father for “as long as he could remember”; the father had recently passed away and the boy had buried him and set off for Berlin. His mother, he said, died in a car crash when he was young. The worker sent him to a youth shelter. Now, police are calling on Interpol to help discover Ray’s history.

A boy entered Berlin after spending years in the forest, he said.
A boy entered Berlin after spending years in the forest, he said.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
CHRiSTFELD
Sep 20, 2011 11:14 PM CDT
Sounds fishy to me. But, if true, English language dialect experts could pretty much pin-point his origins.
BDLS
Sep 20, 2011 9:24 PM CDT
Smells like a hoax to me--Balloon Boy, like.
Person12345
Sep 20, 2011 8:36 PM CDT
This story reminds me of an old black and white movie from years ago.  It was German or Polish and it had subtitles.  Sorry, but a 17 year old living in the woods doesn't walk into a police station in clean clothes.
 

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