16-year-old Seckin Caglar was killed in 1991.
But there is still no trace of the perpetrator.
The Cologne police are rolling up the cold case again: with a sensational action.
Cologne – The teenager Seckin Caglar was killed on the way home in 1991.
31 years have passed since then.
The Cologne case caused great horror and is still deeply affecting today.
The perpetrator is still unknown.
"The fact that her murderer has not been identified for more than 31 years is still a great burden for the family," says Markus Weber, head of the investigation.
The case has now been reopened.
The Cologne police finally want to find the perpetrator and are launching a mass DNA test with hundreds of participants.
That happened?
In October 1991, 16-year-old Seckin Caglar from Cologne-Poll did not return home after work.
Her body was later found on the A4.
The young woman had been raped and strangled.
To this day there is no trace of the murderer.
The current status?
The Cologne police have now reopened the case.
In addition to a publicity campaign, a mass DNA test was also launched.
Cold Case in Cologne: Seckin Caglar was raped and strangled on the way home
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After almost 32 years, Seckin Caglar's murder is finally to be solved.
© Police Cologne
Finally there should be certainty: What happened 31 years ago?
This is well known: On the evening of October 16, 1991, a Wednesday, 16-year-old Seckin Caglar was on her way home from work.
At around 6:40 p.m., she boarded KVB line 7 at the “Salmstrasse” KVB stop.
Just two minutes later, the girl got off the train at the “Poll-Autobahn” station (Cologne-Porz district), where she usually picked up a family member.
And that evening she was supposed to be picked up from there.
But Seckin's father did not find his daughter and waited in vain.
It was not until the next morning that Seckin's body was found, naked and strangled, behind a bush.
Just a few yards from where she had left the train.
Police are looking for Seckin Caglar's killer: DNA mass test in Cologne
More than 31 years have passed since then.
The so-called cold case from Cologne is now being reopened.
Prosecutors have offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the perpetrator.
At the beginning of March, a major publicity campaign was launched with posters and a dedicated website so that potential witnesses could get in touch.
The police have put up flyers in the city trains, "Who knows my murderer?" is on the posters in Cologne.
The message also goes to the perpetrator: "We want to make it clear to him that we are on his heels," says the head of the homicide squad, Markus Weber.
And that's not all: In March, the police started a so-called DNA series investigation.
At the time, DNA traces of the killer were secured on the body of Seckin Caglar.
The mass genetic test should now provide information about the perpetrator and provide new insights into the terrible crime.
335 men from Cologne are to take part in the DNA test
In the first step, 335 men were written to who lived in Cologne-Poll on the right bank of the Rhine at the time of the crime or had some other connection there and were between 14 and 75 years old at the time of the crime.
Participation is voluntary, but: "If someone does not take part, we will of course take a closer look at this person," said senior public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer.
According to a police spokeswoman, around 200 men gave a saliva sample at the first appointment on Saturday, March 18th.
The mass DNA test was therefore “off to a good start”.
On Sunday, March 26, 2023, there will be an alternative date for the men invited in writing.
A few people had already voluntarily submitted a saliva sample to the police in advance because they would be unable to attend both dates, the spokeswoman said.
Cold Case in Cologne: Investigations into the Seckin Caglar case († 16) – so it goes on now
After the second appointment, the saliva samples are sent to the State Criminal Police Office in Düsseldorf and analyzed there.
The sample is compared with the traces found at the time - and can lead to the perpetrator or possibly a relative of the perpetrator, explains chief investigator Weber.
However, the DNA information is not stored.
The saliva sample is only compared with the perpetrator's DNA for direct comparison.
The DNA is then deleted.
However, it is unclear whether there is any hit at all in the DNA mass test.
The Petra Nohl case gives hope that cold cases can still be cleared up many years later.
The woman from Cologne was strangled at carnival 35 years ago.
The alleged perpetrator has only now been found and arrested.
The police received the decisive tip in the Petra Nohl murder case during the broadcast of the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY” in December 2022. And the police are now also relying on the public’s help in the murder of Seckin Caglar.
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List of rubrics: © Henning Kaiser/dpa & Cologne police
