Boy From the Woods

[Mrs. Holmes]

With no "papers" or identificaion it would be very difficult for him to find work. It is mentioned that he said they had been living in "huts" some kind of emergency shelters through out the forest.

 

[Mrs. Holmes]

Whether his story is true or not. He does seem to realize he needs "family" of some sort and he does not want publicity. That is healthy really. Clearly he has a past where he feels he would be better off with strangers and moving forward. It might be best for him not to seek any kind of fame, have a foster family, get an educaiton and move on. He really isn't causing that much harm. He may have a very good reason not to want to "find his family" they are dead or they were no good for him. The energy I get is that he is a decent kid and will be no trouble in the future.

If I knew my parents were really dead the idea of letting a bunch of strangers try to claim you as their own would be scary.

 

[Mrs. Holmes]

The media needs to be careful not to villify him. That will for certain stop him from being public about his situation in anyway now. If I was his guardian I would NOT bring him into the media glare. In fact, in the one story the woman in charge of the shelter says their job is to protect him from the media! It might not "just" be his opinion that he does not want to do media interviews or have his photo released.

Whatever is going on with him it is better it be handled privately.

 

[badhorsie]

Music to ponder to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhgo11KokxE

 

[wfgodot]

If only he'd have been truly feral!

[video=youtube;uSnQa1rE3xY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSnQa1rE3xY[/video]

 

[kgeaux]

'We may never know': Germany's 'forest boy' refusing to co-operate

http://www.theage.com.au/world/we-m...o-cooperate-20110928-1kw3g.html#ixzz1ZGqm2DXj

Fence sitting is hard on the hiney, I will tell you that! My heart wants to believe he is refusing to cooperate because he was brainwashed by his dad into believing there is no one out there for him, and that it would be wrong to look. However, my hinkey meter is going "ding, ding, ding!"

The big giveaway is the soft hands and trimmed nails.

I think he is a chancer from the Czech republic

My family and I are avid wilderness campers. After even only two days in the woods, my family and I would start to look a little ragged......after a week in the woods, I didn't have any nails left, certainly none that were "trimmed." We often camped next to creeks, and we would rinse ourselves off as best we could-----no soap, because we didn't want to harm the environment! You can get really clean just rinsing in a creek, but no way can you neatly trim your nails on a tree trunk or something!

I'm not sure what "chancer" means. If it means a young Czech might want a better life in a new place, I can see him entering Germany in search of a better life......but wouldn't German officials recognize the accent?

 

[Angels_Not_Forgotten]

OK, Here is how I feel about it. Probably not a popular opinion. IF he wants assistance from the state, government, whatever it may be, money, a roof, an advocate, then he needs to start cooperating. IF he wants to do it on his own, hey, no pressure, be mysterious all you want. No he does OWE anyone anything...until he wants something. This could very well be an adult, looking young, down on his luck, wanting to take advantage of a situation. Or it could be a teen, with no family, and no resources. Either way, my opinion is the same as I wrote above.

 

[gitana1]

Fence sitting is hard on the hiney, I will tell you that! My heart wants to believe he is refusing to cooperate because he was brainwashed by his dad into believing there is no one out there for him, and that it would be wrong to look. However, my hinkey meter is going "ding, ding, ding!"



My family and I are avid wilderness campers. After even only two days in the woods, my family and I would start to look a little ragged......after a week in the woods, I didn't have any nails left, certainly none that were "trimmed." We often camped next to creeks, and we would rinse ourselves off as best we could-----no soap, because we didn't want to harm the environment! You can get really clean just rinsing in a creek, but no way can you neatly trim your nails on a tree trunk or something!

I'm not sure what "chancer" means. If it means a young Czech might want a better life in a new place, I can see him entering Germany in search of a better life......but wouldn't German officials recognize the accent?

I think it's like a schemer type person.

In any event, I was open about the story and thought he might have been kidnapped by a parent. Now with the info about the clean nails and refusal to cooperate - I agree that he's lying about his identity, his history and his age.

But it looks like the authorities there are going to protect him. I guess they can't be sure and since he presents as a minor, they don't want to reveal any info about him.

But since they don't know how old he really is, how long does he get to live as a ward of the state? Maybe they should check his teeth to determine his age. They did that in the strange case of Treva Throneberry, who was a 30 year old, pretending to be 15. Well, they didn't do it on purpose, but a dentist treated her and thought something was wrong. She couldn't be a teen because her wisdom teeth had already been removed.

In any event, looks like we may never know.

 

[wfgodot]

Also reminds of a pair of twin sisters who operated in my area of the country. (Bonus: their wonderful real names, perfect for hoaxers: Birdie Jo and Becky Jo Hoaks.)

---
Birdie Jo came to the nation's attention in 1995 in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she pretended to be a 13-year-old boy named Mark born during a Christmas Day blizzard and abandoned by uncaring parents. Money poured in, as did a few offers of adoption.
---
Reports of the pair's similar capers in other states filtered in. Even so, the wily Birdie Jo and Becky struck again in Galena, Kansas, where in 2003, Birdie Jo, then 33, assumed the identity of 13-year-old Chris Gomez, child abuse victim. Here, the two bilked the well-meaning congregation of the Galena Assembly of God church.
---

more on the Hoaks twins here

Longer Chicago Tribune article on the Hoakses here, with Birdie's booking photo.

 

[For The Kids]

Swiss couple come forward to claim boy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ss-couple-come-forward-claim-mystery-man.html

 

[marycarney]

NOW we're getting somewhere!

 

[wfgodot]

Not sure how Forest Boy will account for this on a future resume....

2011 - Assumed role of feral child o' the woodlands for a time

Here's the evidentiary heart of the Mail piece linked above:

---
But his tall tale soon began to develop more holes than a Swiss cheese.

A check of police computers in all 16 states of Germany found that no one by the name of Doreen had died in a car crash in the past decade.

No sign of a grave has been found in cursory searches of forests in the Harz Mountains, along the Bavarian-Czech border or in Thuringia.

Ray is unable to pinpoint the forest where he said he lived, he is also unable to say what nationality he is. Officials originally thought he could be British because he speaks English but only basic German, although they now doubt this.

The tent he carried did not look as if it had sustained five years of treatment in a German forest and Ray was well dressed and clean.

As Interpol was alerted to check with police forces for missing people in other European countries, Ray triggered more suspicion when he said he did not want to pose for photographs or make an appeal to try to find any of his family.
---

 

[justthinkin]

Swiss couple come forward to claim boy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ss-couple-come-forward-claim-mystery-man.html

Swiss, eh? It figures. I was close. Privately guessed he was from Sweden because his facial features very much reminded me of a neighbor's boy my son used to play with, and whose parents had come over from Sweden.

Interesting though that it's the grandparents claiming this boy. Will be curious to find out if either of his parents are still living. I had thought his story about burying his father in the woods hinky.
Actually his whole story seemed hinky to me from the beginning, and I figured he was looking for an easy meal ticket much as Benjaman Kyle.

I'm betting they're having to do the DNA tests because this kid isn't cooperating, and refuses to acknowledge his grandparents.

 

[Wondergirl]

Interesting developments.

German authorities have told Channel 4 News that people from all over the world have claimed to know, or be related, to the teenager.

Police are investigating all of these claims and say that if they prove credible there is the possibility of a DNA test, although under German law the teenager could not be forced to take such a test.

http://www.channel4.com/news/worldwide-interest-in-berlin-forest-boy-ray

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Ok, I have not read the whole thread so I don't know if this has been brought up or not.

But, This sounds just like the Book/Movie "Alabama Moon".

JUST like it.

Maybe he read the book.

:waitasec:

Think I may need to go back and read the thread.

 

[wfgodot]

I'm only disappointed in the fact that his Forest Boy game plan had so many holes. Hugely interesting case, almost tailor-made for a WS thread.

 

[~n/t~]

We know he spoke a little German. Was his mom German and dad English, perhaps? What other countries is German spoken? Switzerland????

I guessed Switzerland way at the beginning:jumping:. Where's my prize? :snooty:

 

[marycarney]

There TOTALLY should be a prize - I'm thinking trip to Disney. How 'bout it mods?

 

[For The Kids]

Forest boy Ray has 'never lived in the wild': German police doubt story of teenager who said he'd spent years in the woods


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...n-police-doubt-teens-story.html#ixzz1aK6bdpps


In all honesty..as nasty as it sounds...if he wont even give dna so these people can find out who he is..i think they should just tell him hes on his own. They have tried to help him and theres only so m uch they can do..hes wasting too many peoples time and money

 

[gitana1]

Forest boy Ray has 'never lived in the wild': German police doubt story of teenager who said he'd spent years in the woods


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...n-police-doubt-teens-story.html#ixzz1aK6bdpps


In all honesty..as nasty as it sounds...if he wont even give dna so these people can find out who he is..i think they should just tell him hes on his own. They have tried to help him and theres only so m uch they can do..hes wasting too many peoples time and money

But, if he's a minor, they really can't do that. However, if he's a minor, he shouldn't be able to have a say as to whether his DNA is tested or not. That's ridiculous. If he belongs to someone, or is a citizen of another country, Germany should not be forced to pay for his care, simply because he refuses to cooperate.

It is intriguing, though, that it is a pair of grandparents who stepped forward. Is there some truth to his tale of being on the lam, so to speak, with his father? Did his parents disappear with him? Did his dad kidnap him? Did he run away from strict grandparents? Is there abuse going on? Let's see. Hopefully, we will find out more...