Police say they believe 'forest boy' as they retrace his steps to find father's shallow grave

  • Ray could have criss-crossed Europe with father
  • Baffled detectives carrying out further DNA tests
  • They have found nothing to disprove claims
  • Linguistic experts have been assigned to case

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated:

Mystery: The boy, known only as Ray, arrived in Berlin earlier this month carrying only a rucksack

Mystery: The boy, known only as Ray, arrived in Berlin earlier this month carrying a rucksack, tent and sleeping bag

German police are trying to retrace the steps of the English speaking ‘forest boy’ in an attempt to find his father’s body.

They are also investigating reports that the teenager may have criss-crossed Europe during the five years he says he spent living rough in forests with his father.

The boy, who is estimated to be 17, says his name is Ray but has little other idea who he is. He arrived in Berlin on September 5, carrying only a rucksack, tent and sleeping bag.

He claimed his father Ryan had taken him into the woods south of the German capital five years ago after his mother Doreen died in a car crash, and they had lived there ever since.

The boy said his father had died after a fall and he had buried him in a shallow grave before heading north to Berlin, as his father had instructed him to do in the case of an emergency.

Police are baffled by the case. Although officers have been unable to locate the grave or establish how the father died, they say the boy’s story so far checks out. A German police spokesman said: ‘What we can say for sure is that we have found nothing at all to disprove the story almost two weeks on.

‘As well as alerting Interpol we have contacted Czech police to see if there is any indication the woodland south of the city that he refers to could have been in Czech territory.

‘It would have been no problem crossing the border and although he says he had been walking north for two weeks, we believe that was a generalisation.

Living rough: The boy says he has spent the last five years living in German forests with his father

Living rough: The boy says he has spent the last five years living in German forests with his father

‘It could have been shorter, which would have put him in the area of the Erzgebirge Naturpark, or if it was longer it could be the Bavarian National Park, which extends into the Czech Republic.’

German police are believed to have contacted Czech and Austrian officials to find out whether the boy or his father had been arrested for vagrancy or similar offences after suggestions that the pair might have criss-crossed Europe over the years.

They have also requested information about any unidentified bodies found buried in woodland over the past year.

Police have been working with the boy to try to recreate his route in the two weeks that he was without his father.

They have not ruled out that he may have been through some kind of mental trauma, and are giving him psychiatric tests, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The boy, who is 5ft 11in, with blond hair and blue eyes, is also being checked against missing child lists.

Officials believe the teenager could be British because he speaks English but only basic German. The British Consul is working with police to try to solve the mystery.

Linguistic experts are working with him to analyse his accent and determine where he came from.

Police said the boy had told them that he and his father had lived in a tent and then later in burrows that they dug themselves. Officials confirmed that the boy was in good physical shape and had no signs of abuse apart from a small scar that was at least three years old.

Police have issued DNA and fingerprint evidence as well as a photograph of the blue-eyed and athletic-looking boy to Interpol. Social workers have applied for child protection status for him.

The boy is unable to tell them exactly where he buried his father, but claimed he 'followed his compass northwards'.

Police believe he could have been living in Bayerischer national park, parts of which cross the border into the Czech Republic, or the Erzgebirge region.

Germany

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