Germany Germany - Rebecca Reusch, 15, Berlin, 18 Feb 2019 #2

[Darling136]

As it's compulsory for German citizens over the age of 16 to have an ID card or a passport, it's possible that RR already had one, depending on how close her 16th birthday was. I don't know the rules in Germany, but for example it's possible to get an ID card in Sweden at the age of 13, to be able to show your age when needed.

First of all i said i supose she does not have it yet, because many people just dont do it. Yes, it is possible to have one prior 16.
However, if she has one it tells her age and with 15 you can not make work contracts by your own. Up to 18 the parents or ones with custody have to agree.
My answer to the above question was not about having an ID but working somewhere in Europe. Btw the question goes even further to "without papers" etc.

 

[Elainera]

I am woefully ignorant of laws in Europe concerning moving to another country etc, but my question is, would it be easy for her to go to Austria for instance, and work and live without detection or papers etc.?

Maria Henselmann comes to mind. She was 13 when she disappeared (lured away by a 50 year old man) and they lived and worked in Italy close to 5 years iirc. Either they worked without papers and used fake names, or they had fake papers, I can't recall. I think it was the former. So theoretically it is possible but I don't think Rebecca would be able to do that alone.

 

[Gottlieb]

You can travel wherever you want, you don't even need an ID (just walk over a bridge or across the street and you are in Austria, noone cares), but she can't officially work. She can work inofficially though - I've done it for years during uni. Cleaning jobs, babysitting, kitchen jobs, etc, etc. You can survive without an ID for years. Maria Henselmann is also a good example.

 

[Rosiebones]

Thank you everyone for answering my question.
I figure that she probably couldn't get a job other than the kinds listed by @Gottlieb since she had not even finished high school and had no training or experience.
I wish we knew who Max is/was and if she left with him.
The ease of crossing borders makes it more difficult to track her if that is what she did.

 

[Elainera]

If she indeed left voluntarily I suppose it wouldn't be difficult to go by another name, and change her appearance/hairstyle etc. Which foreign languages did she learn in school? Those countries would be more likely to be interesting to her.

One thing she wouldn't be able to shed so easily is her love for the Korean pop group BTS. Was she a member in forums regarding the group? Followed them on sm? I bet she was. She wouldn't use her old accounts now but it might be worth for her family to sift through new members in those forums and on sm. Maybe something sticks out, shared details, writing style etc.

Moo.

 

[CaseyLPC]

Is it as easy to get a fake ID in Europe as it is in the US? If so, I don't see it being that unrealistic that she could have obtained a fake ID suggesting that she is 18 or so. While I do not think this is what happened, it is still a possibility for me.

 

[worldwatcher]

If I remember correct.. Rebecca vanished without her ID, her ID was left behind at her parents house, that weekend..?!

It was also said, that she could easily pass for a 18 year old.

Is it as easy to get a fake ID in Europe as it is in the US? If so, I don't see it being that unrealistic that she could have obtained a fake ID suggesting that she is 18 or so. While I do not think this is what happened, it is still a possibility for me.

Have no idea, but I do think it is not that easy, without the "right" connections to get a fake ID.

I work in Germany and my boss used to travel a lot, he was a business man, last week he showed me his 4 passports. Quite normal to have more then one if you have your own business and travel around the world, he said.

But I don't think that this is the case with Rebecca, unless she had someone who (could) arrange this..?

 

[Suglo]

If I remember correct.. Rebecca vanished without her ID, her ID was left behind at her parents house, that weekend..?!

It was also said, that she could easily pass for a 18 year old.



Have no idea, but I do think it is not that easy, without the "right" connections to get a fake ID.

I work in Germany and my boss used to travel a lot, he was a business man, last week he showed me his 4 passports. Quite normal to have more then one if you have your own business and travel around the world, he said.

But I don't think that this is the case with Rebecca, unless she had someone who (could) arrange this..?

I have never heard of anyone having more than two passports - if they are dual citizens. You have to be careful to use the same passport to leave and re-enter a country for documentation purposes. My daughter has two. If she is going to a EU country, she uses her Spanish passport. If she is traveling anywhere else in the world, she uses her USA one.

 

[Gottlieb]

I have never heard of anyone having more than two passports - if they are dual citizens. You have to be careful to use the same passport to leave and re-enter a country for documentation purposes. My daughter has two. If she is going to a EU country, she uses her Spanish passport. If she is traveling anywhere else in the world, she uses her USA one.

Actually no documentation happens in your passport when you stay inside the EU. You do not even need one, your ID is enough. That's the point of the EU - the possibility to move (either for work or private). Documentation of your travels happens only if you visit a country where you need a visum to enter and stay ( Russia f.e.) It is like crossing states in the US - random controls may happen on trains that cross a border but that's all. As I've mentioned, you just walk on the other side of a street and you are in Switzerland (not even an EU-country), or in Germany or in Austria. Nobody documents anything.

I am also courious about the 4 passports -that's definitely not "normal" - you get 2 if you have dual citizenship, otherwise you only get a 2. one when the first one expired.

 

[Elainera]

Maybe worldwatcher's boss had multiple passports because he filled them up with visas and entry/exit stamps due to lots of travelling. Passports have a limited page count. When yours is full you need to get a new one even if your old one has not expired yet. That's the only reason I can think of for 4 passports.

 

[Gottlieb]

Maybe worldwatcher's boss had multiple passports because he filled them up with visas and entry/exit stamps due to lots of travelling. Passports have a limited page count. When yours is full you need to get a new one even if your old one has not expired yet. That's the only reason I can think of for 4 passports.

Yes, that's a reasonable explanation. But also then you have only one that's valid - the full passports will get devalidated before you receive the new empty one.

I can also show off all the 3 of my passports - 2 of them aren't valid anymore but they would certainly look cool together

My point is, you do not need a passport or any sort of ID to travel inside the EU, and you can travel around as you please, it won't be idocumented.

If you want to officially work, that's a completely different situation. But you can easily work inofficiaülly without anybody ever asking for your ID. I'm a living example for this

All she needs to do is to pose as a first year uni student, hang around the unis (lots of jobs and shared apartements to find on the info board at uni entrances) and she easily can find a room in a wg and a cleaning job. If you are young, cute and smart, other young people automatically trust you.

 

[Elainera]

a room in a wg

Thanks Gottlieb, I totally agree with your post.

Just to clarify for others: "WG" is an abbreviation for Wohngemeinschaft = shared apartment.

 

[Rosiebones]

I have always felt that she didn't leave her family for reasons so much as she left with someone she wanted to be with more. Having done that, she is either still with him happily OR she met with foul play at his hands.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

I think I missed some posts, but is the general consensus here that she is away of her own volition now? That she left willingly on her own that first day?

Because I have never and still don't think that - just wonder if I am alone...

 

[Dre]

I think I missed some posts, but is the general consensus here that she is away of her own volition now? That she left willingly on her own that first day?

Because I have never and still don't think that - just wonder if I am alone...

Whew thank you @AzPistonsGirl! You’re not alone! I just don’t have much to say that I haven’t said before. I definitely feel that she is not out there making new friends with a new appearance, job, etc.

 

[Gottlieb]

I think I missed some posts, but is the general consensus here that she is away of her own volition now? That she left willingly on her own that first day?

Because I have never and still don't think that - just wonder if I am alone...

I also don't think that - just want to point out how easy it would be to do that. And it is still a possibility that she left with this Max voluntarily and then things changed.

 

[houndpounder]

http://www.doenetwork.org/closed/articles/3805DFDEU_article.pdf

 

[Rosiebones]

I still go back to the reports of the argument with the boys in her school yard just a couple of days before she disappeared and her spoken desire to change high schools and her observed withdrawal from SM on the Sunday afternoon before her disappearance. Then, although LE feels strongly that she never left the home alive that morning, they have had all of the reported evidence of this dis-proven ( hair sample, no cadaver scent etc.) Several reported sightings by people later in the day indicating she got on a bus. Mother's report of a SM contact named Max.
Then, there is the inexplicable (to me) persistence by LE from the beginning that the BIL killed her at the home and buried her down the autobahn somewhere.
What do they know and are not releasing that is so compelling?

 

[Elainera]

What do they know and are not releasing that is so compelling?

That's the thing, I doubt they have compelling evidence against the BIL or he would still be in U-Haft. His lawyer saw his file, she wouldn't have attempted to get him out if she thought the evidence was strong. The judge would not have allowed him being out in that case.

I think LE probably went a bit by statistics here - last person to see her, has had previous run-ins with the law, her hairs in the car, her phone connected to the house wifi, etc. And then his trip along the highway and his lies about it. Shady for sure but hardly strong evidence for murder.

Moo.

 

[Dre]

That's the thing, I doubt they have compelling evidence against the BIL or he would still be in U-Haft. His lawyer saw his file, she wouldn't have attempted to get him out if she thought the evidence was strong. The judge would not have allowed him being out in that case.

I think LE probably went a bit by statistics here - last person to see her, has had previous run-ins with the law, her hairs in the car, her phone connected to the house wifi, etc. And then his trip along the highway and his lies about it. Shady for sure but hardly strong evidence for murder.

Moo.

I agree- they never had evidence strong enough but always pretended (lied?) that they did... LE botched this so bad I wish they would have been patient and calm... waiting for what they needed instead of this.. if he is responsible I fear there will not be justice for Rebecca and if he’s innocent they did quite the job of ruining his life...
Hopefully they’ve learned from this failure of an investigation.. MOO