26 Sep 2011

Germany woodland boy ‘in good health’

Authorities looking after an English-speaking teenage boy, who claims to have spent years living in German woods, say he is in good health but needs to be protected from the world’s media.

Three weeks after he turned up at Berlin’s City Hall speaking English and just a smattering of German, saying he had been living in the forest for five years, there is apparently little progress in identifying the teenager.

Channel 4 News has spoken to the woman supervising Ray’s case. She told us it is an unusual one, but that authorities are processing it as they would any other child runaway. She confirmed Ray is in good health, but that he must be protected from the world’s glare.

This week there will be a court case to assign legal guardians to the 17-year old, before officals look at putting him into school.

It us a tantalising story. He claims his mother died in a car accident and his father took him to live in the forest. When his dad died, he headed north, by compass, until he reached Berlin. He walked into City Hall and told them he was “all alone”.

But is his story true? It seems far-fetched, but at the moment the authorities are treating it seriously.

The latest information is that investigators are hoping to use scars on the teenager’s body to help identify his background.