German police say story of 'British' boy who emerged from woods 'credible' - Update

German police believe the story of the English-speaking boy who emerged from the woods in Germany “is credible” and that his accent may prove the key to establishing his true identity. “His story is highly unusual and raises some questions,” a police spokesman said. “But we believe it is credible – that is why we are investigating.” The teenager, who turned up at Berlin’s City Hall on September 5 claiming to have been living in the forest with his father for five years, speaks only a little German although he is fluent in English.

Linguistic experts are working with the youth, who is now in the care of child welfare authorities in the capital, to analyse his accent in the hope that it will reveal his origins. “It’s possible that he could be British or another native English speaker,” said the spokesman. “We have people trying to work out exactly where his accent is from.” British Embassy staff in Berlin will also offer assistance over the coming week in a bid to establish whether he may be British



Interpol is investigating whether the boy, who is blond, blue eyed and 5’9” tall, may match the description of any known missing children across the world. But Scotland Yard said they had not yet received a formal request for assistance either from German police or through Interpol. The boy, who gave his name only as Ray, claims to have spent the last five years living in the forest in tents and dug outs with his father and to remember little of his life before that time.

He told police that his father Ryan had died and he had buried him in a shallow grave, although he could give no indication where, before walking north for two weeks to reach Berlin and seek help from authorities. Father and son moved to the forest he said, after the death of his mother who he thought was named Doreen. Police said he was in good physical shape but have not ruled out that he may have suffered mental trauma and he is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation with a report expected sometime this week.

Previously.