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Posted: 30-09-2011 23:01 Post subject:

His name, Ray and his mothers, Doreen just don't sit well with me. Ray is just not a name for a 17 year old, and his mother would be between 40 and 50. I don't know many people that age called Doreen.

My thought is that he is from some kind of manically religious family who have home schooled him. He said that his father taught him to read, why not at school? Why does he have no memory or schooling? Why did his father tell him to learn English because it was an important language?

If we take his story at face value, that there was a car crash 5 years ago which killed his mother and he has been in the forest ever since, it leaves so many questions unanswered. There would have been an accident leaving a car and a body that surely would have been found by now?
If he is from the UK or another English speaking country then he would have had to have been in education or at least registered for home schooling?
Why does he have no memory of a home, school or neighbourhood?
Why doesn't he know his second name?

I think that he has been living, completely unknown to the authorities in the woods and his father taught him English because it is a useful language and maybe even the father's mother tongue.
Ray was told that is anything happened to his parents then he was to head north to Berlin.
He has been completely alone in the woods for a few months, rather than years. He may not understand the concept of a year. Or his father told him to say it had been that long so their house wouldn't be found.

So are the woods in Germany big enough to people to live undetected?

Posted: 30-09-2011 23:29 Post subject:

Posted: 01-10-2011 00:43 Post subject:

http://youtu.be/oQrBxslfX-o

Posted: 01-10-2011 15:50 Post subject:

So many questions surrounding this bizarre case that the truth, if and when it's known, is bound to seem rather mundane...

Posted: 08-10-2011 14:08 Post subject:

Posted: 08-10-2011 21:24 Post subject:

Forgive me if this has been touched upon, as I believe I have read the entire thread but could have missed some points.

Does it look to anyone else like the photograph of "Ray" is a collaged composite of features? There is something truly off about that picture that I can't put down to just being underweight.

Posted: 08-10-2011 21:30 Post subject:

Posted: 08-10-2011 21:47 Post subject:

Could it be this isn't a photograph of a real person? I know that sounds ridiculous, as what would the motive for creating a random story such as this be, but I wonder! The whole thing is really odd. As was mentioned, why would this boy not remember anything from his past, including names. He's not presented as being particularly cognitively inhibited in regards to speaking or understanding his surroundings. If he had disappeared when he was a baby it would make sense, but he was already developed at the time he supposedly went into the woods with his father.

Edit: Turns out it's a computer generated image based on a "masked photo" of the boy since German Law prohibits his photo to be distributed given his age.

Posted: 09-10-2011 13:56 Post subject:

Update on the story...

The mysterious 'Forest Boy' who claimed to have spent years in woods has never lived in the wild, according to German police.
They now suspect the story of 17-year-old Ray' after examination of his clothes and tent revealed no sign they had been used for very long in the open.
The English-speaking teenager, who refuses to have his picture taken to help find his family, appeared at Berlin City Hall early last month.
He said he had lived five years in the forest with his father Ryan after the death of his mother Doreen in a car accident.
He claimed that when his father died suddenly in August he buried him among trees, and then walked for two weeks to Berlin using a compass and map.
But police and social workers began suspecting two weeks ago that his story was bogus and his motives were suspect.
They cannot understand why the only personal details he has revealed are his birthday and first name. He has told investigators he has no memory of his past.
But doctors say he is in in perfect health with no signs of amnesia or mental problems.
Ray has refused to provide a DNA sample despite a Swiss couple coming forward last week to claim he could be there grandson and agreeing to be tested.

Lost in translation: The boy turned up in Berlin alone and saying he had been living rough in the woods
The teen told police he was not interested in establishing his identity, and simply wanted to start a new life after the death of his parents.
He is now in the care of social workers after a legal guardian was appointed to represent his interests.
If it is found that he comes from Switzerland he will be deported back there.
No sign of his father's grave has been found in cursory searches of forests in the Harz Mountains, along the Bavarian-Czech border or in Thuringia.

Wilderness: The teenager's history is shrouded in mystery and he refuses to have his picture taken
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.
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.
Interpol has been alerted to check with police forces for missing people in other European countries,
Ray told police: 'I'm all alone. Please help. I just want to get on and make a new life for myself.'
The only image of Ray that has been released under Germany's privacy laws is an artist's impression based on photographs taken by social services

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2047027/Forest-boy-Ray-lived-wild-German-police-doubt-teens-story.html

Posted: 09-10-2011 15:24 Post subject:

Thanks, Mugwump! That explains the picture.

Posted: 09-10-2011 17:26 Post subject:

Just supposing that his story is more or less true, that he had spent some time living in isolation with his father, who then died and he has now presented himself to the authorities.

If this were the case, and he was in fact English, the chances are he would have a fairly strong accent, giving a clue as to where he either lived in the UK, or where he may have learned English. Wouldn't his accent have strengthened with only one individual to converse with?

Posted: 09-10-2011 19:09 Post subject:

He could fake an English accent, though, especially if he's fluent in the language.

Posted: 10-10-2011 11:08 Post subject:

Posted: 10-10-2011 12:30 Post subject: