"Forest Boy" story a total Hoax- Could face charges - Polidicks

[quote]Now that he's been identified and his story debunked, "forest boy" is in trouble with the German police which could result in steep fines and even jail time. Twenty year old Robin van Helsum - who had been known only as Ray - emerged in Berlin last August claiming he had been living in a German forest with his father for five years and that he had no clue as to his identity. After months of investigative work that included DNA scans and consultations with international police organization Interpol, police released his photo to the public this week. Only days later he was identified by his stepmother as Robin van Helsum from the Dutch town of Hengelo – about 100 miles east of Amsterdam. van Helsum was 19 when he went missing nine months ago, German police confirm to ABC News. "We are 100 percent certain that he is this 20-year-old boy, because his stepmother positively identified him," a police spokeswoman told Die Welt newspaper. "We have made contact with his family and friends. A photo where you could see him with a chain round his neck showing his name provided the proof. We are very glad that he has been found." With his story now revealed as a hoax, officials in Germany say van Helsum has run afoul of the law and could face fines totaling up to $40,000 which would cover part of the costs of his living expenses over the past nine months and funds exhausted in the search to discover his identity. German police estimate that some $100,000 has been spent since Van Helsum emerged outside city hall last siummer. "This is no joke anymore," Berlin police spokesman Michael Maaß told Die Welt. "He made right fools of us. The costs could come down to him." Criminal charges could come as early as next week, according to various media reports in Germany. Van Helsum is still living in social care housing in western Berlin but may be forced to vacate the facility as early as tomorrow. Because he is not a minor German officials say he will not be forced to return to Holland. Though he doesn't seem to suffer from any mental problems, police still have no idea what his motives were with the hoax. "Forest boy," as van Helsum came to be known in the German media, wandered into the German capital nine months ago, carrying only a tent and a backpack. He told police he had been walking for five days to get to Berlin. He called himself Ray and told authorities that both of his parents were dead. Authorities went to painstaking lengths to identify van Helsum, having checked his DNA with international missing person lists, made public appeals, and sent his fingerprints around the world, all to no avail. It was only this week that he allowed his photo to be released. "There were things that did not fit with his story -- he was relatively clean and the tent he had with him did not look like it had been used for five years," Thomas Neuendorf of the Berlin police told German news website The Local. German police said van Helsum insisted that he buried his father before starting his five-day trek that landed him in Berlin. But he didn't know where his father died, police say. Because he spoke English with an accent, German investigators thought that one or both of his parents could be American or British.[/quote] Source [url]http://gma.yahoo.com/mysterious-forest-boy-identified-german-police-091307335--abc-news-topstories.html[/url] Sorry about the bad formatting, Yahoo news hates to be copied. Anyways I saw this coming 50 miles away.

No shit. How did they not see this coming?

I kind of suspected this. I mean, you're not going to have a brand new looking tent and backpack if you've been living in the forest for 5 years.

Well no shit it was a hoax, how could anyone actually believe this story?

I just still don't know what would make someone run away and then make up a story like that, I don't have that sort of mentality to pull that sort of shit so I can't really even begin to comprehend it Attention is my best guess and that's more then likely it than anything else

Hindsight is 20/20. Don't be attacking the German government for an act of genuine charity, if they had refused to help at all and the story turned out to be true (much stranger things have, in fact, happened) I'm sure plenty of people here would be condemning them. It's unfortunate that it did turn out to all be a waste, I would not be surprised if the guy gets to foot the bill. Can't imagine how he'll do that without a job, seeing how he's been missing for a year.

Though the story seemed pretty far out there, the "English speaker in Germany" part caught me. I failed to consider that someone from a country other than England/America/etc (Netherlands = Dutch) would actively use English to support their story. Ｇ　Ｕ　Ｌ　Ｌ　Ｉ　Ｂ　Ｌ　Ｅ

Why are people so gullible? The story sounded fake and he didn't look like he spend any time in a forest.

From the police perspective, they can't say to the parents.. "We think your son is a troll, we will stop looking now." It would be 100fold worse if he wasn't trolling and rocked up.. Scumbag societal double standard.

Knew it.

people being so ~~edgy~~ because they ~knew~ it

[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;36349726]Why are people so gullible? The story sounded fake and he didn't look like he spend any time in a forest.[/QUOTE] A lot of it comes down to "That's one hell of a backstory, imagine how cool it'd be if it WAS true." People love crazy stories. v:v:v Remember, the photo wasn't released until [I]nine months after[/I] he'd been brought in. The story originally broke several months ago, without a photo, and with no answers throughout the time that passed. It wasn't until the photo was finally released with the story that answers finally started coming in. The story would've been debunked/passed-off much sooner if everyone saw the kid the first time around. Admittedly I can't recall if the earliest stories mentioned that he had a regional accent, or if they mentioned that he was relatively clean with a brand-new tent. Something I'd put down to news sources omitting details to make the story more sensational.

[QUOTE=Mechanical43;36350776]people being so ~~edgy~~ because they ~knew~ it[/QUOTE] aren't you funny and contribute to the discussion

[QUOTE=3noneTwo;36349632]Though the story seemed pretty far out there, the "English speaker in Germany" part caught me. I failed to consider that someone from a country other than England/America/etc (Netherlands = Dutch) would actively use English to support their story.[/QUOTE] You know most people in the Netherlands speak some English, right...? Last time I was there, the friends I were staying with spoke perfect English, aside from a few complex words. I would guess someone trying to make a publicity stunt there who wanted to get his story out to the world would naturally use English as to avoid translation problems. Not that this story was in NL but still, don't assume that nobody is bilingual. Most people around here in California can speak pretty good Spanish as well (as will most of the country in a few decades, I'm guessing).

[QUOTE=Snowmew;36353441]You know most people in the Netherlands speak some English, right...? Last time I was there, the friends I were staying with spoke perfect English, aside from a few complex words. I would guess someone trying to make a publicity stunt there who wanted to get his story out to the world would naturally use English as to avoid translation problems. Not that this story was in NL but still, don't assume that nobody is bilingual. Most people around here in California can speak pretty good Spanish as well (as will most of the country in a few decades, I'm guessing).[/QUOTE] Everybody in the netherlands speaks at leats a bit of english. everybody under 30 is usually fluent. Hell we are required to speak at least 4 languages before you can graduate highschool.

[QUOTE=Snowmew;36353441]You know most people in the Netherlands speak some English, right...? Last time I was there, the friends I were staying with spoke perfect English, aside from a few complex words. I would guess someone trying to make a publicity stunt there who wanted to get his story out to the world would naturally use English as to avoid translation problems.[/QUOTE] Not [i]most[/i] people, no. I can't say I personally know anyone from the Netherlands, so I've never considered it. Though judging by Taipan's post, 'language' sounds like a larger-than-average focus in the Netherlands anyway — At least in comparison with schools in English countries, and especially in comparison to the few schools I went to in Australia. [sup]Shout-out to all the Japanese from 5th to 8th grade that I promptly forgot, saronara minasan[/sup]

Well they have the right to punish that jerkwad for wasting people's time. They could have use their time and resource on something useful instead of looking at this hoax.