Con artist dealing with kind fools ... leave him with Cheney and folks ... they'd get to the truth watery quickly!

Dude was hanging out with Elvis and Bigfoot. Those mother@!$%#ers party so hard the kid forgot his last name.

The DNA samples from Mr and Mrs Big Foot were negative and cleared them of any suspicion, so I heard. Yogi Bear and BooBoo were seen with Forest Boy's pictures all over their face book in hopes of finding his mother and father....known NOT as Ryan and Doreen but as Ms. Weeping Willow and Mr. Redwood. Berlin is still puzzled by the fuzz growing from Forest Boy's toes. Such a mystery! ;)

I've heard this story! Lucan the wild boy raised by wolves...

Thus the only reason for this story being "relevent".

Yes it's relevent when it's a description of a missing person/john doe

brotha ahsoo should change his name to brotha ahsol

(backhands Brotha Ahsoo for his reverse discriminatory statement) How DARE you say that about a kid like this, let alone ANY kid of ANY ethnicity! Homelessness is NOT something to make fun of, sir and I will not allow you or any other conventional racists to get away with this crap in here, period, end of story, end program. Show a heart instead of a black hole and be thankful that this wasn't the way that YOU were raised, you stupid, intolerant, hypocritial, elitist, racist twit!

Brotha: Really? why is it that race and politics end up in every discussion somewhere. If you don't have something relevant to the story keep your fingers to yourself.

Brotha...YOUR attitude is reason 'you people' are in the shape you are in today..you are all 'victims'..right?

Or maybe his father raised him sheltered from the rest of the world and then his father died. It is possible that he is telling the truth.

Brother Ashoo - proudly proving racist pigs come in all colors

A decent profiler could give the German authorities a running start. Some children will invent a story to cover a traumatic tragedy or event. They create a new reality for themselves. Since "Ray" speaks English, and that may not be his native language, he probably received a normal education. English is the most common second language taught in most European schools. Also, the fact that his parents and family have not looked for him, suggests they did not care when he disappeared. His DNA points to a local (neighboring country) origin. I'm sure that a profile can be established that gives a better chance for identification!

You fools actually believe Brother Ahsoo is really Black? Hmmm must be the Black guy in the picture that proves it huh?

Are You Really That Dumb, are you just like your user name and thinking that I am assuming that he is what the uneducated people refer to as a "black" person? Well, you know what they say about assumptions, right? You know the saying, so don't bother to ask me for an explanation, okay? Now with that being said, if you had more than one brain cell, then you would have noticed that I said that ANYONE with ANY skin color that had made such a statement should be backhanded for such words and as it is right now, I'm of half a mind to extend that to the birthers and other moronic twits in here making similar statements. I stand by my words and my convictions and I flat out refuse to back down, too.

The boy was raised by Robin Hood and Maid Marian in the Sherwood Forest; or maybe it was Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin in the 10,000 Acre Forest...either way, he's had a fairy tale life. (not to be taken seriously, of course).

If Obama had a son he would look like him.

reposted from sarg's comment at #13.0

If Boner and someone in the White House, had a son, he would look like him...I guess they knew how to give him haircuts and how are his teeth? Looks like he was looked after, fairly well because the few scars they mention are not so serious for someone that has been living out in the woods. Did they find some digital device on him?

If the boy's story is true, he is very intelligent, and if his story is a hoax, he is very intelligent.

Very interesting situation either way.

Brother Ashoo - the word is 'relevant'. Learn to spell.

DENTAL RECORDS??? or someone has been watching to many episodes of Backyardigans!! Lets go on a adventure!!

This is a whole lot like the movie Hannah. If it is true I am surprised he is so up on his technology but then again stranger things have happened.

He looks like a Mcaully Cualkin love child.

"I'm sure Obama will soon weigh in on this story!"

I'm sure you're an idiot.

The kid said he was in the forest for 5 years not 20 -they lived there from the time he was 12 'he says'. That means since 2007, of course he still remembers cities and technology! Find evidence of them living in the woods; walk 5 miles south of berlin as he described the direction he came from was 5 miles north. They should have him show them where in the woods they stayed.

He looks german to me...also is the forest close to a neighboring country?

Oops! 5 days that is ^

Curious. How does one "wander" around a forest for five whole years and manage NOT to have seen buildings or train tracks or rivers or bridges or towers or power lines etc etc. from which to identify where he was.

I can't imagine him seeing only trees for five years. He says he stayed in caves. Where are caves in the forest? How big? What kind of rocks? What kind of trees? How deep was the snow where he was.Snowfall isn't even in depth everywhere. Where did he get water? Lakes? rivers? House outside taps?

They say he was dirty when found. What kind of dirt? Sand? Red mud? Clay? Peat? That would indicate a location where he was? No analysis done?

Seems like he remembers only just the "right" details, but not a single one to point where he has been.

I can't believe the police believe his story for one minute.

Come on people.

Obviously a lot more to his story than he is letting on.

No, that's not me in the pic and yes I'm a black man. The truth hurts so much doesn't it?

Shades of Kaspar Hauser!

You curmudgeonly wags need to look that one up...

Well, Brotha Ashoo, I guess if he were gunned down in the middle of the street for no reason by a paranoid watch captain, no one would give the headline a second look. Right?

...if you had more than one brain cell, then you would have noticed that I said that ANYONE with ANY skin color that had made such a statement should be backhanded for such words...

thetruthteller - you deserve the same backhand for ranting about another poster's intelligence.

Brotha Ahsoo - you're nothing more than a troll, and trolls come in all colors.

Brotha Ahsoo #1.5...Knock the chip off your shoulder.

"The boy is being taken care of by youth services and has been assigned a legal guardian." WTF? He is 18 years old...'a boy?'

The truth does hurt, doesn't it Brotha Ahsoo?

Waiting 9 months to release a photo? What's up with that? I smell several rats.

So the lawyer wants the whole world to feel pitty for his childhood. Does it mean Floyd doesn't know what is right and wrong? Lawyers have come up with these lame excuses, childhood deficiency to shift responsilbilty. No wonder this world is going bananas

Well, I hope the best for the kid. If it's real, I hope him well and a good life. As for all the talk of race, I agree that race does matter in most stories about missing children. White attractive children, especially females, do get more attention internationally and nationally. There are actual statistics that prove this. That said, this story is unique. Not about a kid gone missing, but about a mystery kid found. I want to believe that it would not matter if he were a black child or an unattractive child. But history and reality tells me differently. We will never evolve if we do not face the realities of our society and its unequal treatment to certain people. Bury your heads if you want and truly his comments were insensitive but they are honest. It does not mean I want to see any child missing but I would love to see equal treatment of missing children on the news and that simply does not happen and that is a reality so I don't understand the petty anger this black man is getting for being honest about how our society functions. This is simply how it is so we need to at least be honest about it just as blacks need to be honest about poverty, high school drop out rates, crime and drugs. Let's not pretend that white children aren't given more attention when missing anymore than blacks can pretend these problems are not systematically destroying the race.

Could it be, Dare I say it, Running around the woods, mother died when he was 12, father is dead and buried, Did we ever recover a body for HITLER? His dream of a utopian race? Of course the mother would be killed, so that when his training was complete she would not stop him from his rise to power. It could be the Return of HITLER. Perhaps the CIA, Interpol, and the FBI should begin immediate investigations. Where is the secret training camp, wasn't there one on the moon we didn't know about. Maybe they have finally released their first student into the world to test their training, indoctrination, and their infiltration. It could be the beggining of the end. The mayan calendar, the planetary alignment, HAARP, The Aflockalypse is really happening, and a HITLER is back in BERLIN GERMANY.........

Could be true, or not. We are on Earth, and will see much more stranger things than this. Nothing surprises me!

ok, now that Im done LMAO, I had forgotten about the Hannah Movie reference until I saw it posted further down. His parents or relatives have not appeared in the year since he was found, I am guessing he might have been an abducted child, and the "parents" would have hidden the truth about who they were from him. They could very well have not told him a last name, so that they would not be discovered. The Mom dies when he's 12, then the dad a few years later. Let's remember how long Jaycee Dugard was held captive. Is it also possible that he has siblings, that are still captive? So many real questions left un-answered by this article.

Brotha Ahsoo....the truth is you're an arrogant, ignorant human being. I could care less about the color of your skin, if you must know. However, you are no different than members of the KKK. It is sad but very true. Does that hurt?

Get an education and stop looking through the eyes of oppression, my friend. Life is far more enjoyable that way.

Atticusrules... You're another one of those closed minded people who think only your opinion matters and if we don't agree than they're a troll. Get a life!

Apache... Crawl back under your shell my Native american friend. I'm am an educated man and don't ever compare me to a Klan member. Your foolishness is almost as pitaful as bogus ASSumptions! You may carry on...

Kenneth (Brother Ahsoo) - if that is you, stop clowning around! YOU'RE WHITE, JACKASS. Getting on here playing a racist black man is the lowest: go back to Fox News and pull your crap there where it is actually appreciated.

About the boy: My suspicion is that he is a runaway, not wanting to go home but too young to make it on his own. His parents may be dead and he doesn't want to be with his legal guardian. I cannot see anyone forgetting what their surname is, even if they were 12 when they parted company with civilisation. On the other hand, stranger things have come out of the woods in Germany, as they say.....

Ahsoo: Your comment was nothing more than reverse racisim defined. There are those with blonde hair and blue eyes who strugggle with poverty, substance abuse, lack of education, and lack of a father or proper mother in the home. I'm certain there are parts of the world where a blonde haired blue eyed person could not wander the streets and might find themselves lynched themselves for having committed no crime other than being blonde haired and blue eyed. Its 2012 Ahsoo, we all (mainly) see and comprehend injustice wherever it is and the world is working on it (some are anyway). Your comment is just sort of dull, out of touch, dimwitted, and a throwback to three decades ago.

The kid in the story, whatever the full story is, has clearly been through something abnormal and traumatic and its just not fully disclosed as its simply not known whether he is a runaway or this really happened or whatever it is. I wish him well in his future, that he has a good one, as long as he has not been involved in something criminal himself.

I found this story wierd from the very begining I dont feel it is true . he has to have some relatives somewhere. I dont want to call the kid who looks 16-17 in that pic a liar but I dont believe he is telling the truth . he has to have a last name , he is in a german forrest and speaks only english . no I dont believe he is being honast and is takeing advantage of the good people there.

@AtticusRules, no you don't sucka, I do! (backhands AtticusRules for his insolence)

Word, ApacheRosePea00. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Hey, BigotedAnalhole, if you don't like people comparing you to the KKK, then why not quit acting like them, hmm? Don't morons like you and AtticusRules get it that you're playing into the socialist/communist/facsist/humanist/hedonist/secular humanist/athiest/agnostic/naturalist trap with your contributions of dividing humanity? That's their end game! The New World Order controls the KKK and all of the other racial pride/race baiting organizations, regardless of skin color or ethnicity. Also, just because you got your university from a cereal box top or a fly-by-night university doesn't qualify you as having a legitimate education, okay? Besides, all education is now is payola, bribes, extortion, bias, and who you can sleep around with these days. The true learning has long since went out the window in most universities and colleges.

Don't tell me if mom died when he was 12, that he didn't know mom's last name....

Cute kid, but a liar.

He knew his mother's first name. It was Doreen. Don't know that they would have used a last name when it was just the family speaking together. Why does this always happen in Germany? There was another incident just like this about 1800 or so.

He should've been in school before the age of 12, so he should've known his last name. Even if he was home-schooled, it seems impossible that for 12 years a last name isn't mentioned.

His family may have not told him this information. They don't sound like they were terribly stable. More than likely they raised him with little interaction with the outside world and sheltered him. It is possible that if this were the case he never used his last name much and forgot it. Just because he SHOULD have been in school doesn't mean he was. And if he were not in school and were homeschool then his parents may not have used his last name. So it is QUITE possible that he doesn't know his last name. Quit assuming everyone is "up to something." Sometimes people actually do tell the truth and things are exactly as they seem. I really cannot stand overly cynical whiners who just knows that EVERYONE out there is trying to pull one over on them.

Quick! Get the fire extinguisher - his pants are on fire.

Think so too, 12 year olds know a whole lot more. Even 6 yea olds know their last names.

Here's a conspiracy theory - He and/or his father was involved in mother's death, so he went into hiding with his son. He either could not take care of his son anymore or felt his adult son needs to get a normal life. So he made a story up for the son to tell. Young and cute as he is, people will largely want to accept him back in the society as an orphan. His father is out there somewhere.

He should be talked to, off guard, in foreign languages and his response watched; finding the country of origin is a starter in finding out more.

i do not understand why he would not know how to use a cell phone and a computer???? he has only been in the "forest" for 5 years. last time i checked, they had cell phones AND computers in 2007. if he was 12 when he went into the "forest", then he would have most definitely known how to use both at that time. my 6 year old has no problem with cell phones and computers. i do not understand why they are using his technological advancement as a reason for his not really living in the forest.

I thought of Kaspar Hauser as soon as I read this story.

@HalfGEEK: The technological advancement coupled with the fact that he doesn't know his last name makes it a little odd. If he had lived a normal enough life up to age 12 to know how to use cellphones and laptops, then shouldn't he also know his last name? It's very strange and makes the story a little unbelievable.

I really cannot stand overly cynical whiners who just knows that EVERYONE out there is trying to pull one over on them.

Yes, Vince, and we overly cynical whiners really cannot stand you holier-than-thou types, so I guess we are even. If you don't like what you read, then don't read Newsvine. Simple solution.

Just a thought, traumatic amnesia. If you have a very traumatic event in your young life, your mind may block certian parts of his memmories. Or it could be really a hoax. Sooner or later the truth will out.

In the words of the man in the article:

"There are many question marks," Neuendorf added.

I'd think there are a few exclamation points as well.

I gotta wonder if dad took to the woods, possibly in a foreign country, because something happened to his wife that wasn't an accident. Awful strange to want to take a young boy off into the woods away from society for so long...

@RowanMoon:

Good for you... at least one other person here is reasonably well-read.

Alabama Moon - movie with John Goodman.

I know this kid... his name is Hansel. He has a sister named Gretel who works in a bread crumb factory in Dusseldorph.

Perhaps Europe takes it's privacy laws seriously. Sending DNA samples within the law enforcement community is OK as against distributing pictures to the general public. This could be a last resort action.

Okay I read the article twice and I am still not sure what the article is saying the authority's are looking for. Is the boy missing? Or are they looking for the fathers body? They release his picture to the media, but for what, because they dont know who he is?

Happy2008, So far as I recall, they never said that he had a cell phone and computer, they said that he knew how to use them once he turned himself in. Check the article.

Andres, I thought you got me, but I checked the article and it says:

"Ray has also quickly adapted to city life and technology, using a laptop and his cell phone with no problems".

HIS cell phone..if he used a laptop, even if it wasn't his, it will contain information. How did he get a cell phone, money in the first place?

He's had plenty of time to acquire a cell phone since he walked out out of the woods. Even if he just got one yesterday, it would still be considered 'his' cell phone.

I strongly suspect this is a hoax. There is more to this whole thing than we have read here today. Maybe he is just a "homeless" kid who wants to get into some social programs and decided to give himself a "interesting life story" -make himself "famous and be in the paers and TV" --The story reports that he "knew his parents" and his mother died when he was 12 years old -- he must know who he is and his own last name -- As far as him being able to use a laptop --Kids today are much better @ picking up on that kind of tech stuff than past generations, (not to say he did not already know how to use it since his story is "BS") - --Now about (his) cell phone usage abilitiy(was that a mistake of sintex?, bad reporting?,a typo? or did he in fact already have his own cell phone when he arrived? If so, where did he get it? If he did have his own cell -solving this whole "mystery' should be pretty fast and easy. Check his "phone book" and Call log. Who is his carrier company? Who is paying the contract? When was it set up?-- Does he have moey? what kind? From where? He said he lived in "tents" -- where did he get them? Where are they now? Where is his father's "dead body"? -- Again, I really think this is some kind of prank or joke or hoax --

Tard boy, it never said those are his cellphone or laptop... He must have been using those tree chargers that are the craze in Germany... I would think he came to authorites, someone knowing young kids love tech gadgets gave him those to play with and saw he was a little to accustomed to that kind of technology if you have been living in the forest the last 10 years....

Rob - I am sure the German authorities and Interpol never thought of that. Thanks for giving them the tip!

just see who he calls...and what language he use's ...when he google's...

lol. he uses a cell phone and laptop so well because thats where he got the idea for this stunt. i guarantee that someone his reading this story and laughing saying, he did it Frank and now we're ging to be rich. lol

The story was out across Europe when he was first found last year, but fell from the front pages with no extended family coming forward.

As to 'suspicious aptitude' for technology: A few of you watch too many cliche movies about dumb cave-people! Don't you think that German social services over the last months gave him access to all sorts of popular technology? And younger people take to it like fish to water. He only spoke English then and should take to German really quick. His progress actually should depress some of us in the older generation, who stopped learning, some still refusing to understand 'leaving messages' on rapidly-becoming, almost obsolete hardline phones.

Something DOES smell fishy, but he could be a British, Canadian or American kid from a kooky ex-service family that choose to disappear in the East German forests after they fell into unmanaged neglect in the post 1989-era.

BTW, German law protects minors, victims and even conceals last names and faces of most suspects in criminal cases. So showing the face of the kid HOPING to find and REACH possible family is an unusual step.

They did not say ....he had a computer or cell phone ,it says he was quickly adapted to technology meaning they tested him to see if he indeed he is lost in the century ....I would say he was kidnapped by a father and he was denied info .about him self (brainwashed ) or he is a runaway and big pathetic born liar .

Why would he even need a cell phone. if he doesn't even know who he is and has been living in the woods that long, then who would he call?

This is exactly like a movie we saw on Netflix.....mom died in car crash, dad moved boy to the woods, dad died, boy buried him in the woods. Wish I could remember the name, starred John Goodman as the good hearted lawyer who kept the boy out of a reform school.

Being able to quickly adapt to cell phone and laptop use is hardly telling. If you hand a four year old a laptop, and show them the basics for 10 minutes, they will have it mastered. How many 3 year old kids know more about their parents cell phone then the parents do? The user interface for technology is so dumbed down these days that it would be shocking if he hadn't quickly mastered them.

This is not always the case, people. Things like this could be like smeagol likes raw fishes said or they could be like this one story that I heard about a decade ago in my native state (Tennessee) about a pair of siblings that were homeless and that had never been formally trained in school or around society in general. I know that this sounds like a plot to a spy/thriller/action-adventure novel or a rather cliched RPG storyline (possibly minus the whole "I've got amnesia" sort of thing), but I think that this story deserves a bit more information before we jump to conclusions now, does it not, people? Besides, as someone pointed out, there was a similar story that had happened in this country (Germany, not the USA) around 1800, so it's not like it's something new here.

Why would someone who knows no one need a cell phone?

if his parents are both dead and he doesn't know his last name and he's been living in the woods for the last 5 years - who is he calling on his cell phone?

Jeez people, he turned up last year and the story says he has been assigned a guardian since then. The phone and laptop he has obviously obtained since then. He just took to them quickly.

Also, if he was living a 'normal' life until he was 12, then he most likely had used a phone and computer before, so it's really not surprising.

Come on, people. He's been "back" for a year. Of course he knows people by now. Even if he hasn't made any friends -- which is unlikely -- he still knows the police and social services workers plus his guardian and so on. It seems to me that he has several people with whom he might want to get in touch or who might want to contact him in return.

WHY would someone who KNOWS no one need a cell-phone? You seriously think he met NO ONE since he has been around people, over nine months?

Young kids (and anybody with an open mind) meets new people the MOMENT they get around people. Takes me ONE EVENING to meet interesting people at a restaurant or party and I store their numbers in my cell-phone!!!!

And a lap-top would be an exellent, readily available tool to allow access to the world at large. People update and toss out used lap-tops all day... (social worker to kid - in English:" here kid, press these buttons and you do ALL THESE THINGS!) Unless he was a total dummy or a set-in-his-ways old geezer, he would catch on! In the OLD DAYS we might have given a kid books or put him in front of a TV... how sad that would be, to be toaught about life with informercials!

Okay, people. I'm guessing there were computers in the social services shelter where he's staying. So that takes care of (possibly) how they could monitor his computer use. The article doesn't say how long it took him to get good at it or how long he was monitored by authorities before they decided he had "quickly adapted" with "no problems." As to the cell phone, as others pointed out, he's had time to get "his" own cell phone after coming out of the "forest". The reason he may "now" have a cell phone, and I haven't seen this suggested by you all on this vine, is because social services may have given it to him so he can stay in contact with authorities (and vice-verse) while he is away from the facility (e.g., heading down to the pizzeria to get a calzone).

This is a media report. They sensationalize details on purpose...also often times leaving out details so you guys can go off on the vine with comments such as I'm seeing posted. Its fun to read all the posts by the idiots (present company included).

So come on....make me proud....post some fun stuff about the "forest boy."

Dental Records? I think this little boy of the woods has watched WAAAYYY to many episodes of Backyardagins!! LETS GO ON A ANDVEEEEENTURE!!

Kids today are much better @ picking up on that kind of tech stuff than past generations...

Rob, that is a totally false statement. If a 10-year-old in 2010 has never, ever been exposed to a computer, cell phone, and other technical stuff, he will have just as much difficulty as a 10-year-old from 1950 would have in learning to use these things. Kids are not born any smarter today than they were 100 years ago. It all has to do with that to which they are exposed from the time they are born. They obviously will adapt better to computers if they have been exposed to them from the time they were able to sit up by themselves than someone who never turned one on before age 50.

lions tigers and bears...

Tragic victim of a face eating. How did daddy taste, Ray?

plain bob..."lions tigers and bears..."

You win the funniest post award.....I'm still laughing!

Congrats!

Mourning... that's what I was thinking - Hanna movie!

That is exactly what I was thinking. I think he is a run away, and a liar.

I'm glad I read the comments first because I was going to post just that! Watch out CIA....

Yeah, that would be a cute couple. Hanna and Forest Boy.... Until Hanna kills him that is.

Alabama Moon is a closer math to the story Forest Boy tells

Montana...

He had three small scars on his forehead and three on his chin and one on his arm - can we say alien abduction?

Got two words for this story. "So What?" What's the fascination with the government an everybody else knowing your identity? Aren't becoming too accepting with "BIG brother" already? I see nothing wrong with this kid, he's so far a victim of derogatory speculation based on people who watch too much tv.

Too many unanswered details. When was that photo taken? Is this a photo of him when he was first found? Are those the clothes he was wearing? Or is this a more recent picture? Ther are so many methods to get to the bottom of this whole thing -- the police and authorities have all kinds of technology and other ways to find out the truth --especially these days. I agree it is more likely he is making up the whole story after watching the movie "Hanna" -- By the way, he looks a little stoned!

More recent. The police said he was dirty and unkept when found.

@bevvar - Thank you for the back story and information -- which is so-sorely lacking in this article. The remarks here run the gambit, don't they?? -- some don't believe this story for a second --others accepting every single word as fact. I did not know of this story before today --So my comments are based on the "facts' as presented in this articled( how it was written and what information it includes and does not). At this point, based on this information , i can not help but smell a hoax (as other said, some of the details seem to have come from movies) Interesting how people here are so quick to attack each other or go off track -- but I guess that is the nature of this "beast" --

Jakester, I'm not sure whether you're kidding or not but I thought your post is somehow endearing! Not certain he's being completely honest either but he sure does have that angelic look about him.

Jakester,....finally one compassion comment which we all should do before judging negative ....what if he is a victim of any kind of situations or if he is a con they should quickly find out and Germany is a very civilized country they will get to the bottom of this with western help.We are not one country...... when it comes to this ,we are a world ,that we all want it safer and compassionate .

Jakerster, I think his story is also true. When you think about it, it is possible. His parents could have both been only children and his grand parents could have died before his father and he took to the forest. That would leave him with no extended family to have turned he and his father in a missing, and also would explain why no one has come forward to say "Hey, I know that guy!". I think if he were a con someone would have recognized him by now. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is not so cynical that they automaticly think that someone is lying.

@JeniDoll and Jackester: it is nice to see you are so accepting.and maybe you are right. But if also seems you have added details to the story not in evidence from the story posted here today.

@Rob-1067535 Well, yes, perhaps that they did add new details to the story that might not be in what more people might accept in more conventional terms. However, the police and anyone that is possessed with a rather keen sort of intellect and a reasonably open mind would logically want to deduce everything down to its base root and cover every base and scenario before coming to the logical conclusion of this individual and their long and seemingly complex ordeal now, would they not, sir? However, as I said before in another post, do not make assumptions and do not jump to conclusions. There is more to this story and only time will be able to play out the full details of this story. Some of us humans tend to not be satisfied by what is conventionally presented, so those particular humans will inevitably try to find alternative explanations for something happening and this mindset is what makes for true scientists and true detectives.

I just seen a movie about a man and his son living in the woods and the father dies, it was on netflix.

Pieceful? Is that from eating pieces of Dad?

Then a match would've showed up with Interpol, most likely. At his age he's probably a runaway, but if he was a runaway, wouldn't his parents have filed a missing person's report, so his description would turn up a match? It's just weird.

Miles. Must you always refer to imprisonment as a solution? Geeze.

Maybe we should put YOU in prison just to be safe, Miles-405176-447762? Then again, fascists like you never really ARE good at taking your own advice now, huh?

What a F%^&*CK'g stupid suggestion - a 16 year old who has an obvious issue here and some idiot-fool thinks prison is "safe" for a 16 year old ??? WTF!! ! ! an A_hole

Hey Miles, with no crime scene you can't charge him. without any kind of proof, you can't put him in prison. Maybe you ought to rethink this one dude.

Mickey...

the Berlin police are naturally skeptical of this boy...and must verify anything he says to them

their actions re DNA testing are an attempt to ascertain if he was a kidnap victim & later brainwashed

giving him a cell phone and computer was a great investigative tool 'cause now they know he is conversant in that technology...but that in itself is inconclusive as he may have been computer literate as a young boy

they are now releasing his photo in the hopes that someone might recognize him

seems to me that Berlin has a very thorough police department

Sylvia,

"the Berlin police are naturally skeptical of this boy...and must verify anything he says to them"

Good point.

He just described the movie on netflix called Alabama Moon lol.

It's part of the verification process. Police departments perform this to check plausibility of the stories witnesses (and suspects) tell them.

wouldn't they be able to take his DOB and his parents names and find where he was born?

leahh - if he was able to provide those but he cant seem to.

He can not provide the information -- or "refuses' to do so.

I know just how this kid feels. I was once raised by Episcopalians. This was so traumatic that it prevented me from opening up to anyone for years.

Its not exactly rocket science, plus he wlked out of the woods august 2011 so he has had 10 months to learn.

I read about this a while back. It doesn't take a young person long to learn to use this things. But I don't know what use he would have for a cell phone since he has no relatives close. Maybe to talk to the friends he's made since being in the facility. I think it might be a hoax also. For what purpose? Who knows?

Maybe he escaped from a cult encampment (just speculating) and is now afraid to give his real name, because they might track him to it, or they might find him? again just speculation.

Mike from Florida

subtract 5 & that makes him approximately 13 when he supposedly entered those woods

it's reasonable to expect a 13 year old kid to be familiar with cell phones and computers

why are you surprised?...or were you being sarcastic?

He needs regression therapy for his selective memory problem. Maybe they can get more information that way. The kid obviously grew the past 5 years,they had to buy or steal clothes and shoes for him someone had to see them. or did he come out of the woods naked. Really,someone in a neighboring town knows something. his dads death month has to be an assumption of what he can remember. By age six you usually have some great memory imbedded in your brain that will identify you. A shrink can help.

This is an MSNBC article, of course there is a lot of information left out. Surely you don't really believe that the police in Germany's capital city are dupes, do you?

And I will stop call you Shirley.

You would think (hope?) the German authorites are not that dumb (but the story implied they are "stumped") -- So we all here are questioning and commenting and offering ideas -- Yes, it could just be the story is not well-researched and/or written and/or all the known information has not been presented here today (which is very likely the case). But clearly, none of that has stopped anyone here! As I said before -- there is much more to this whole story ~ and I would be interested to see how it all plays out!

got _to _be _kidding _me. It took you 5 minutes to read that story? That is what surprises me!