A rudimentary campsite in a wooded area on the outskirts of a city in northern Germany has been identified as the current refuge of a man central to one of Europe’s most enduring missing person investigations. The individual, a convicted sex offender, is reportedly being protected at the location by two women accompanied by pit bull dogs, who have described themselves as his aides.
The man, aged 49, was recently released from incarceration after serving a sentence for a serious sexual assault committed in Portugal in 2005. His release has sparked significant local hostility, which appears to have driven him into this forest encampment, described as a basic setup consisting of little more than a tent and sleeping bag.
Authorities consider him the leading person of interest in the unsolved 2007 abduction of a young British child from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. To date, investigators have stated that forensic evidence directly linking him to that case remains insufficient to file formal charges.
His release conditions initially included an electronic monitoring device. However, a judicial ruling has since permitted him to travel outside Germany, raising concerns among law enforcement about their ability to maintain direct oversight of his movements.
Prosecutors are actively seeking to delay any potential relocation, hoping that additional time might yield new evidence strong enough to justify a fresh arrest. The suspect has reportedly expressed intense anxiety about his safety since becoming publicly linked to the high-profile disappearance, telling a journalist of living in “constant fear” and suffering from severe paranoia, including an inability to sleep due to fears of being targeted.
Prior to his release, a former criminal associate publicly asserted that the suspect was responsible for the child’s disappearance and warned that he remained a dangerous individual who should not have been freed. The investigation into the decades-old case continues as authorities monitor the situation.
