Woman 'Murdered' in 1984 Found Very Much Alive

She won't say what prompted her mysterious disappearance
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 25, 2015 2:11 PM CDT
Woman 'Murdered' in 1984 Found Very Much Alive
A woman assumed murdered 30 years ago was found alive this month in Dusseldorf, Germany.   (Shutterstock)

A German woman assumed to have been murdered more than 30 years ago was found alive by police earlier this month, NBC News reports. But far from solving the mystery of her disappearance, her unexpected return is only deepening it. According to the Daily Express, 24-year-old Petra Pazsitka left her dentist to take a bus to her family's house in 1984 and was never seen again. Police searched for her to no avail, and it was assumed she had been murdered, NBC reports. In fact, a man suspected of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl in the same area where Pazsitka was last seen confessed to her murder in 1987. But her body was never found.

Two weeks ago, a woman calling herself "Mrs. Schneider" called Dusseldorf police to report a burglary to her home, NBC reports. When officers asked for identification, she reportedly confessed to being the now-55-year-old Pazsitka. Police say she's been living in various cities around Germany under a fake name and without any official documents. With no bank account, she's allegedly been making money through "illicit work" and paying all bills in cash. "Her brother and mother were in shock and tears when they heard the news," a police spokesperson says. But Pazsitka won't say what prompted her disappearance three decades ago, only telling police she wants nothing to do with her family—though she denies that any problems with them were behind her vanishing act—or the public. (In another cold case, a 91-year-old confessed to a decades-old killing.)

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