Birgit Ameis led an inconspicuous, steady life. When she disappeared without a trace, it was clear to everyone: she couldn’t have left voluntarily
The names of the employees are written on the red drawer boxes on the shelf. Birgit Ameis’ mailbox has been empty for a long time. The colleagues pinned an article from the local newspaper to the pinboard: “Birgit Ameis has disappeared.” A photo shows her self-crocheted bobble hat with the pompom in the French national colors. The other shows her. The tearout is from May 2015.
Bernd Kreuter, head of the homicide squad in Koblenz, is once again at Birgit Ameis’ workplace at Hahn Airport. Next to her blue office chair, with a clear view of the Hunsrück and the sky. The German Weather Service has its office on the third floor of the tower, only the air traffic controllers sit higher up. Kreuter and his people have been looking for Birgit Ameis for more than 500 days. But it remains as if it had been swallowed up by the earth.