15-year-old Rebecca from Berlin disappeared on February 18, 2019 – exactly four years ago. The police are still trying to solve the case. “With over 3,000 tips that have been and are being processed by investigating colleagues from the 3rd Homicide Commission since February 2019, this missing person case is still present,” the police said on Friday. There were still numerous indications that some people would also “search for Rebecca on their own and give clues to traces, for example finding blankets in the forest”.
However, some items have remained missing since the disappearance: a white hoodie with “Rap Monster” written on it, a black and white athletic shoe, a beige and pink purse, a backpack and a fleece blanket.
Rebecca disappeared that February day in the Britz district of Berlin-Neukölln. To date, she has not been found alive or dead. Since then, a murder commission in the Berlin State Criminal Police Office (LKA) has been investigating. Rebecca’s brother-in-law is still under suspicion. Murder does not become statute-barred, and even in cases of missing persons, the files are not finally closed.
According to the family and the police, Rebecca had stayed with her sister. The sister’s 27-year-old husband was at a party and didn’t return until early morning. The sister went to work early. When the mother called to wake Rebecca to go to school, no one answered the phone. The mother called the brother-in-law, the call was pushed away. He called back shortly after and said Rebecca was already gone. She didn’t make it to school and didn’t come back home either.
After a few days, the police published a search report with a photo. The area around the sister’s house was searched. The brother-in-law came under suspicion because he was alone with Rebecca that morning. The police arrested him twice and released him again. He denied having anything to do with the disappearance. The suspect and his lawyer have not commented in recent years, nor have there been any responses to inquiries from the DPA.
The family’s car was caught on the highway towards Poland on the day of the disappearance. The brother-in-law was the only one who had access to the car at that time, but did not explain why he was there. A witness saw a car of the same color in the forest near the highway on the day of the disappearance. A woman told police how she saw a conspicuous young man there who quickly hurried away. Ex-girlfriends of the brother-in-law reported that he used to beat them, beat them up and also locked them up.
For weeks, the police searched for Rebecca’s body with hundreds of officers, dogs, boats and divers in forests and lakes. Without success. In 2020, the public prosecutor stated: “We continue to assume that Rebecca did not leave the brother-in-law’s house alive. All alternative events (…) can be ruled out after the investigation. There are no indications at all that he voluntarily left the home environment .” A kidnapping from the house or on the way to school can also be ruled out.
This is the police missing persons report listing the missing items. There is also a podcast on the Rebecca case and a 2020 prosecutor’s video.
Read at stern Crime: One man is sentenced to death, the other sees it as his duty to save him. The fate of both of you is tied to a woman who wanted justice 37 years ago.
