When Seckin Caglar died, she was just 16 years old. The young woman is doing an apprenticeship in the “co op” store on Siegburger Strasse in Cologne-Poll. Friends and family describe the teenager as hardworking, cheerful and always willing to help.
That evening, at around 6:40 p.m., she boarded line 7 at the “Poll-Salmstraße” stop to make her way home. The journey takes only two minutes. She usually gets off at the “Poll-Autobahn” stop and is picked up by a family member. But not on that Wednesday, October 16, 1991. The father of the 16-year-old is a few minutes late and then waits in vain for his daughter.
The family immediately alerted the police. But a search involving friends and family is unsuccessful. The next morning, the gruesome discovery: Seckin Caglar’s body was discovered behind a thorn bush in the immediate vicinity of the “Poll Autobahn” stop. She was strangled and exposed. But a perpetrator is never identified.
The Cologne police have now resumed investigations into the case and are calling 355 men for a mass DNA test. “With the help of new scientific methods, the DNA is now analyzed so well that not only the person who caused the traces but also people related to him can be identified,” says lead homicide detective Markus Weber, explaining the procedure. The detectives are now focusing first on men who were between 14 and 75 years old at the time of the crime and who had a connection to the Poll district at the time of the crime. In the coming days, you will be asked in a personally addressed letter of invitation to submit a saliva sample and thus support the search for the perpetrator.
On Wednesday (March 8), the officials will start a large-scale campaign to clarify the case and the upcoming DNA screening. First, posters and flyers are distributed. At the same time, swing cards (hanging flyers) with a QR code will be distributed on the KVB line 7 light rail vehicles in order to reach not only the people of Cologne, but also tourists and commuters. At a press event on Friday in the market square, the victim’s brother will be present in addition to the chief of police.
The public prosecutor’s office has offered a reward of 5,000 euros for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator.
Watch the video: In the case of the 19-year-old who was killed at a party in Bramsche, Lower Saxony, the police arrested a suspected perpetrator. An arrest warrant was issued against the 20-year-old for alleged murder. Investigators are also assuming a sex crime.
Sources: Police Cologne I, Police Cologne II
