Diana B Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Anyone else see this? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44547903/ns/world_news-europe/ I feel really bad for the boy, if it is true. It feels fishy to me though. If he's 17 & has been in there for 5 years, how does he not know more information about his family? I can't imagine a 12 year old that doesn't know his last name. And I wouldn't imagine it'd be something you forget, necessarily. I'm going to be watching this story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraphina Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Ummm...that does sound a bit fishy. Very odd and seems very unlikely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyofsixreboot Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Weird:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Very strange!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 How odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 If the boy speaks only fluent English, not German, why haven't they contacted the US Military for missing soldiers in the last five years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 If the mother did die, I wonder if his father killed her. I also wonder if she did indeed die or if he just told his son that and then essentially kidnapped him. There's some reason his father fled into the woods and hid for five years. I wouldn't be surprised if his father was military. If he's of normal intelligence, I can't imagine how he's forgotten his last name, unless there's some amnesia involved. Very strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Anyone else see this? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44547903/ns/world_news-europe/ I feel really bad for the boy, if it is true. It feels fishy to me though. If he's 17 & has been in there for 5 years, how does he not know more information about his family? I can't imagine a 12 year old that doesn't know his last name. And I wouldn't imagine it'd be something you forget, necessarily. I'm going to be watching this story! I wonder why he got all the way to the Rathaus before asking someone for help. Unless the city hall in question is a district city hall. Because the main Berlin city hall is way, way downtown and he would have had to pass a lot of other places of assistance to get there. Not to mention all of the little villages that all have a town hall before he reached Berlin. Hope he gets good help. There was a case around the time we lived in Berlin of a family of kids who had lived on their own in an apartment for some long period of time. I want to say that it was several months. They had been abandoned by their mother and the older kids did their best to take care of the youngers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 That's interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 It's so... old-fashioned. One has the feeling you can't be lost for that long these days. The world is too small for it. That's what makes it feel so impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 So when you say it sounds fishy, what do you think? That he is a runaway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 It almost sounds like some sort of memory loss or dissociative fugue. :iagree: That was my first thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 It's so... old-fashioned. One has the feeling you can't be lost for that long these days. The world is too small for it. That's what makes it feel so impossible. I was lost in DC for a couple days... :lol: J/K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 (edited) It's so... old-fashioned. One has the feeling you can't be lost for that long these days. The world is too small for it. That's what makes it feel so impossible. I don't find it that hard to believe that a controlling parent could keep his child from the outside world for several years. Children are "lost" in the closets and bedrooms of abusive suburban houses for years before they're found. A few hundred acres of woods or more? Not so unbelievable I think. Edited September 16, 2011 by WishboneDawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 It's so... old-fashioned. One has the feeling you can't be lost for that long these days. The world is too small for it. That's what makes it feel so impossible. You can't be lost, but you can probably hide. You'd need to be quite experienced, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamrachelle Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Ummm, wow. I'll definitely be following this story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danybug Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 I hate to automatically think the worst, but I initially thought maybe he was someone who was abducted or kidnapped. And maybe the boy has blocked out the traumatic experience or been brainwashed. I know my mind went to the dark side... Hopefully, they find it to be just a simple living situation and the boy can find peace and healing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 When I read the subject line, I wanted to ask if his name is Kaspar Hauser? But seriously, this sounds very odd and if true, very sad. I hope they find some relatives who will recognize him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 I agree--sounds like something's missing........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Germany is very densely populated - 80 million people on an area twice the size of Missouri. And the people are very outdoorsy, so there would be hikers and bikers in most woodlands. I doubt one could hide in the woods for several years without being noticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 I was lost in DC for a couple days... I'm STILL lost in DC! :lol: And I agree that if the story is true, the father must have been carefully controlling the child. Oy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Some public reaction to the boy's claims was highly sceptical yesterday. One blogger pointed out that in Germany a compass was hardly necessary for orientation. "Anyone who is stuck in the depths of even the deepest countryside needs only to walk for the maximum of an hour before reaching a village," wrote one online commentator. If authentic, the boy's story bore similarities with Germany's last "forest hermit" case in 2007 which involved a 43-year-old American who lived rough in the woods above the Mosel river for four years after breaking up with his girlfriend. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-baffled-by-english-boy-who-lived-in-forest-2356116.html I found the picture on Bild's website. Not too interesting given that it's blurred, but he has had a haircut in the last 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendi Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-baffled-by-english-boy-who-lived-in-forest-2356116.html I found the picture on Bild's website. Not too interesting given that it's blurred, but he has had a haircut in the last 4 years. I agree. Unless the dad was a really good barber, he's had a professional haircut relatively recently. IMO. Is it possible he got a haircut in Berlin once taken into custody, and before the photo was taken? Wendi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanier.1765 Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 The story sort of reminds me of the movie Alabama Moon. It's strange when live imitates art rather than the other way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Germany is very densely populated - 80 million people on an area twice the size of Missouri. And the people are very outdoorsy, so there would be hikers and bikers in most woodlands. I doubt one could hide in the woods for several years without being noticed. And the forests are groomed, not wild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oops, duplicate account :/ Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 If it's true, we just watched a movie with a similarish story line. Alabama Moon is on Netflix instant watch. John Goodman is the only really good actor, but it was a wholesome movie that inspired good discussion here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oops, duplicate account :/ Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 The story sort of reminds me of the movie Alabama Moon. It's strange when live imitates art rather than the other way around. LOL, I saw this after my post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 If the mother did die' date=' I wonder if his father killed her. I also wonder if she did indeed die or if he just told his son that and then essentially kidnapped him. There's some reason his father fled into the woods and hid for five years. I wouldn't be surprised if his father was military. If he's of normal intelligence, [b']I can't imagine how he's forgotten his last name, unless there's some amnesia involved.[/b] Very strange. Abuse can make a person "forget" so many things. :angelsad2: And who can say how normal or stable this boy's life was before he allegedly went into the woods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 I agree--sounds like something's missing........ :iagree: definitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 I agree. Unless the dad was a really good barber, he's had a professional haircut relatively recently. IMO. Is it possible he got a haircut in Berlin once taken into custody, and before the photo was taken? Wendi I would think he would be tanner. It has been summer, after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana B Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 I agree that it sounds a lot like Alabama Moon - that was my first thought. My first thought was a teenager looking for some attention. He went to the authorities immediately. If he was escaping from some kind of bad situation (kidnapping for example) you run to the first person you can find. You don't wander all the way into Berlin to the police or what ever. If he can't remember his own name, how would he know where to go? I would expect more of an aversion to people from brainwashing or anti-social behaviors from being away from people for 5 years. So I wouldn't expect him to immediately go to authorities. And can anyone tell me how common it is for someone to be in Germany and not really speak German? I suppose the father could have been fluent in both but only spoke English to the boy. But I'm thinking some military brat who wants his dad to come home or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 http://gma.yahoo.com/mysterious-forest-boy-identified-german-police-091307335--abc-news-topstories.html The mysterious young man who emerged in Berlin nearly a year ago claiming he had been living in a German forest with his father for five years has now been identified and his story debunked, according to German police.The young man, who has since been known only as Ray, has been identified as 20-year-old Robin van Helsum, from the Dutch town of Hengelo. Van Helsum was 19 when he went missing nine months ago, and his stepmother identified him from the photo released earlier this week, German police told ABC News. "We are 100 percent certain that he is this 20-year-old boy, because his stepmother positively identified him," a police spokeswoman told Die Welt newspaper. "We have made contact with his family and friends. A photo where you could see him with a chain round his neck showing his name provided the proof. We are very glad that he has been found." Van Helsum's story -- that his mother, Doreen, had been killed in a car accident, and that he had lived in the forest with his father, Ryan, until his death last summer -- is now believed to be a lie. He was the subject of a lengthy investigation by German police and the international police organization Interpol. Van Helsum, who is now living in social care housing in Berlin, seems not to suffer mental problems, authorities told ABC News. Police have no idea what his motives were with the hoax, and they are questioning him again today. "This is no joke anymore," Berlin police spokesman Michael Maaß told Die Welt. "He made right fools of us. The costs could come down to him." "Forest boy," as van Helsum came to be known in the German media, wandered into the German capital nine months ago, carrying only a tent and a backpack. He told police he had been walking for five days to get to Berlin. He called himself Ray and told authorities that both of his parents were dead. Authorities went to painstaking lengths to identify van Helsum, having checked his DNA with international missing person lists, made public appeals, and sent his fingerprints around the world, all to no avail. It was only this week that he allowed his photo to be released. "There were things that did not fit with his story -- he was relatively clean and the tent he had with him did not look like it had been used for five years," Thomas Neuendorf of the Berlin police told German news website The Local. German police said van Helsum insisted that he buried his father before starting his five-day trek that landed him in Berlin. But he didn't know where his father died, police say. Because he spoke English with an accent, German investigators thought that one or both of his parents could be American or British. There are no immediate plans for what will next happen to van Helsum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Interesting. I wonder what his motivation was for doing this? and is his father alive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 He has to be mentally ill to have even wanted to go to this much trouble for attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.