A young hiker from North Rhine-Westphalia has been missing in the southern Black Forest for two years. Where's Scarlet? There are many clues - but no trace.
Todtmoos/Bad Lippspringe (dpa/lnw) - Two years ago, 26-year-old Scarlett S. from Bad Lippspringe near Paderborn disappeared while hiking through the Black Forest. There were repeated intensive searches, tips and witness interviews. The ZDF television program "Aktenzeichen XY... Missing" also addressed her disappearance. But there is still no trace of Scarlett. "What happened to the missing person is still unclear," said a spokeswoman for the Waldshut-Tiengen public prosecutor's office in Baden-Württemberg when asked by the dpa news agency.
The young woman has been missing since September 10, 2020. On that day she left Todtmoos for the last stage of her Black Forest tour via thegorge trail. Footage from a supermarket surveillance camera shows them still shopping in the morning. Then their trail is lost.
The police do not rule out that Scarlett S. had an accident in the steep, impassable forest area traversed by ravines. There is no evidence of a violent crime. However, it is determined in all directions. The police also investigated an indication that witnesses in a parking lot near Wehr still want to have seen the young woman.
According to the public prosecutor's office, 170 tips have been received since the TV program "Aktenzeichen XY" was broadcast at the end of June. In 25 cases, people want to have seen the young woman on the day of her disappearance or later. "Some clues are already known and were clarified before the broadcast by the program "Aktenzeichen XY"," said the prosecutor. There were hints about found objects, isolated huts or dangerous places along the trail. In some cases, however, only assumptions were made about the whereabouts of the hiker.
The Waldshut-Tiengen criminal police have now clarified most of the clues. However, there is currently no hot lead, said the prosecutor.
Your agency is conducting a death investigation. However, the prosecutor emphasizes that it is completely open what happened to Scarlett. Such a procedure ends with the conclusion of the investigation into the cause of death or - if there is an initial suspicion of a crime - with the transition to a preliminary investigation.
Scarlett's family frantically searches the "Please Find Scarlett" Facebook page. In the TV show "Aktenzeichen XY" Scarlett's father was shown looking at photos and videos in his daughter's room and maintaining her car. He doesn't want to give up his daughter. He keeps asking the same question: "Where's Scarlett?"
