A female body was found during the large-scale search operation in the area of the municipality of Lenningen (Esslingen district). This was announced by the police headquarters in Reutlingen and the public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart. The identification is still pending. A special commission with 35 officers was set up to clarify the circumstances of death.
The police were looking for a 16-year-old from Remshalden (Rems-Murr-Kreis) who disappeared more than a week ago. When asked by the dpa, neither the police nor the public prosecutor wanted to confirm whether the body found was the 16-year-old.
Then their trail was lost
The teenager had disappeared over a week ago. She left her parents’ house on January 24, but instead of going to her school, she took the train to Kirchheim unter Teck. From there she boarded the Teckbahn in the direction of Lenningen. After that, their trail was lost. “According to our information, the missing person deliberately did not go to school on Tuesday – she probably told schoolmates that,” said the police spokesman.
Most recently, the investigators had set up a so-called anonymous tip system, with the help of which witnesses can easily report via the Internet. A man was identified as a witness on Thursday, the spokesman said. He got on the train with the missing person and could possibly provide information about where the girl wanted to go. The person concerned is not a suspect.
So far, the Red Cross, a helicopter and the mountain rescue service have been looking for the 16-year-old for days on sometimes difficult terrain in vain. According to police information, a search operation between Kirchheim unter Teck and Oberlenningen was planned on Thursday – during this operation, the officials then found the previously unidentified body.
