Emergencies
Missing ten-year-old found alive – person arrested
A missing ten-year-old is found alive – the police arrest a suspect (symbolic image/archive image). photo
© Friso Gentsch/dpa
A ten-year-old girl who went missing in East Westphalia is found alive several hours later in Fritzlar, Hesse, around 80 kilometers away. The police arrest one person. Many questions remain unanswered.
In connection with a ten-year-old girl from Brakel who was missing for several hours in A suspected person has been arrested in East Westphalia.
The child did not come home from school at lunchtime, was reported missing shortly afterwards and “found alive” again in the evening, the police in the Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia initially reported without further details. The girl was found in Fritzlar in Hesse, around 80 kilometers away, Bielefeld police and the Paderborn public prosecutor’s office added a little later. “The child is doing well considering the circumstances.”
“In order to protect the personal rights of the child and his family, no further information is currently being provided regarding the exact circumstances of the disappearance,” emphasized the investigators. This also applies to the suspect, age and gender, a police spokesman explained in response to a dpa request. The joint press release with the public prosecutor’s office stated that an “urgent suspect” had been temporarily arrested, but this was meant to be gender-neutral. Whether it was a man or a woman cannot be made public at the moment.
Regarding a report from “Bild” that a man had kidnapped the child, the spokesman said, referring to the family’s personal rights and the ongoing investigations, that there was no statement from the investigating authorities. At the same time, the investigators appealed: “Out of consideration for the child and his family, the police and the public prosecutor’s office ask you not to participate in speculation about the crime.”
The police and fire department launched a search operation, in which a sniffer dog was also used. The police had also published a photo of the missing girl on the NRW police wanted portal – anyone who shared it should delete it, they said.