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
Boy From Forest, Ray, Stumps Police in Berlin, Germany
A boy entered Berlin after spending years in the forest, he said.   (Shutterstock)

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. (More mystery stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X