As of: February 14, 2024, 7:22 p.m
By: Maximilian Kettenbach
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Split
Some admire the solidarity of the Reusch family in the case of their missing Rebecca, while for others the behavior causes “disturbment”.
It's at least sensational.
Berlin – The relationship between the Reusch family and investigators is considered to be broken.
And this has been the case almost since the beginning of the case.
One might assume it is based on mutual distrust.
Some (the family) have no understanding that the investigation only goes in one direction - they are targeting the brother-in-law, Florian R.
The others (police and public prosecutor) react soberly because the family is not cooperating enough with them.
And Rebecca Reusch remains as if she had been swallowed up by the earth.
February 18, 2024 marks the fifth anniversary of her disappearance.
The then 15-year-old had spent the night at the house of her sister Jessica and her brother-in-law.
The police assume that she did not leave the house alive.
Shortly after the disappearance, Florian was in custody twice, but was released both times due to a lack of evidence.
Police, family, brother-in-law – the circumstances in the Rebecca Reusch case are strained
The Berlin public prosecutor Ralph Knispel, whose namesake Martin continues to lead the investigation, remains tight-lipped: “Personal and family relationships with the family are often not that easy.
In individual cases, this can lead to relatives of the accused not wanting to believe that they are guilty.”
The allegations against the suspected brother-in-law continue to be serious.
The investigators are not giving up on the theory, as you can see from our parts 1-3 on Rebecca's disappearance.
Despite all this, Florian R. is still presumed innocent.
IPPEN.MEDIA series part 4
The then 15-year-old Rebecca Reusch from Berlin has been missing since February 18, 2019.
On the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, we would like to look at the case again from different perspectives.
On the five Fridays before the anniversary, we will publish a mini-series with the latest findings, theories from experts and assessments from investigators.
Part 1 of the series: Overview: Chronicle, status of the investigation and key moments
Part 2 of the series: Looking at the theories: 5 possible scenarios for Rebecca's disappearance
Part 3 of the series: Looking at the brother-in-law: Why the investigators could even be threatened with embarrassment
Part 5 of the series: A look at the investigators: The authorities' mistakes and the hope for the missing piece of the puzzle
Missing person case from Berlin: Lots of strange details surrounding Rebecca's disappearance
The Rebecca missing case is highly unusual, especially with regard to the Reusch family.
If you ask former case analyst Axel Petermann about it, he starts talking and doesn't stop: “A 15-year-old disappears without a trace.
She's actually in a safe room with her sister.
She is supposed to go to school, but then she is alone with her brother-in-law because her sister leaves the apartment.
Rebecca is now alone with her brother-in-law.
He later says that he was sleeping, but in the meantime seems to have googled strangulation practices during sexual intercourse.
There are no traces to support the assumption that Rebecca could have left the house.
She didn't show up at the bus stop or at her school.
“There are so many unusual facts and indications,” he says in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
“Everyone knows a girl like Rebecca.
Everyone can identify themselves because she lived in comparable living conditions like many others and lived a life like many others," says criminology professor Christian Matzdorf, trying to explain the missing person case to us.
“That's why the public participated very strongly from day one and continues to do so today.” The police are still looking for these items in the Rebecca case.
Accusations against the Reusch family are loud: From the beginning, the investigators have been looking for Rebecca using this picture.
© Credit: dpa/Imago (montage)
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On the day of Rebecca's disappearance, brother-in-law drives to Poland - "Florian, just talk"
What happened then?
“Suspicion quickly fell on Rebecca's brother-in-law Florian, who must have drunk quite a lot at a party with colleagues.
Nevertheless, he then takes a car trip to Poland, although he doesn't initially report it.
What was the point of this trip?” asks Petermann.
A few days after the disappearance in February 2019, Rebecca's father only hinted: "The whole number is related to another thing, which I'm not allowed to say," said Bernd Reusch on RTL.
He asked his son-in-law: “Florian, just talk!
Clear that up so the whole search goes the other way.
And in the right way.
We have to find Becci.”
As
IPPEN.MEDIA
knows from well-informed circles, it is said to have been about a drug deal in Poland.
Chief Public Prosecutor Knispel remains vague here too: “In some environments it is extremely difficult to reach people who might know something.
This applies, for example, to the area of narcotics, gang or rock crime.
Many don't dare to speak.
So a lot of questions remain unanswered.”
Ralph Knispel is senior public prosecutor and head of the capital crimes department in Berlin.
He is also chairman of the Association of Berlin Prosecutors.
© IMAGO/Olaf Wagner
Family searches for Rebecca via Instagram and TV interviews: “We’re not giving up hope”
Not only father Bernd, but also mother Brigitte and Rebecca's sisters appeared directly in public.
They coordinated search operations.
The eldest, Vivien, set up an Instagram account to search for Rebecca.
But despite the numerous clues, Rebecca remains missing.
When investigators searched the brother-in-law and sister's house again in April 2023, mother Brigitte was the last to speak out publicly: "We are not giving up hope," she explained to
Bild
.
You can feel whether your own child is still alive.
There is “no change” within the family, an RTL reporter learned from Rebecca’s mother.
People celebrate celebrations together, as long as they can still be celebrated after Rebecca's disappearance.
Brigitte Reusch emphasized that the suspect Florian is presumed innocent.
So the family continues to stick together.
Little is known about Rebecca's relationship with her brother-in-law.
They are said to have gotten along well.
“There are no neutral testimonies.
The extent to which there was a special, possibly one-sided, closeness between Rebecca and her brother-in-law is therefore left to speculation,” says forensic scientist Matzdorf.
Criminology professor criticizes the Reusch family for their TV appearances - “led to disturbance”
For Matzdorf, who teaches as a professor of criminology with a focus on forensic science at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin), the family's appearance is questionable: “The family continues to appear very united to the outside world.
This led to external disturbance, including among those investigating.” Matzdorf accuses the family of “offensive self-marketing” and gross criticism of the security authorities.
Christian Matzdorf is a professor of criminology with a focus on forensic science at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin).
There he heads the forensic science center and the university's crisis team.
He is also a board member and press spokesman for the German Society for Criminalistics (DGfK).
He was in the Berlin State Police for over 30 years.
© private
“Especially when it comes to media presence, there are scenes on TV where an unbiased observer could notice moments in which facial expressions and gestures did not appear to be congruent with the content of the statements,” said Matzdorf, who himself worked for the Berlin State Police for 30 years and is still in There is contact with “those involved in the investigation”.
“The family stands by him.
That is their right and the presumption of innocence applies until proven otherwise.”
There is also a bit of understanding within the authorities.
“They don’t want to believe that it could have been him.
“It’s human, you can understand that,” it says.
Especially: If Reusch's parents had rejected Florian back then, they would have plunged their other daughter, Jessica, into another misfortune.
Searching for Rebecca: “Searched for a girl who doesn’t exist with a Lolita picture”
Matzdorf also criticizes the family for the photo that was selected to search for the girl.
So the picture that the investigators used to search for Rebecca and are still looking for.
“The police could only work with what the family provided them.
And only with the information.
The role of the family is central and in this case, from different perspectives, has not always been optimal.”
Petermann, the former homicide detective and now retired profiler, also doesn't understand why the family gave this photo to the investigating authorities.
The family quickly initiated a public search for her, and the missing persons office of the Berlin police was quickly contacted.
So far everything was going as it should.
Axel Petermann was a murder investigator before he became a profiler at the turn of the millennium.
The case analyst, confirmed by the police, has been advising the investigators since then.
Until 2014. Then he retired.
However, criminal cases continue to bother him.
His books based on true cases put him on the Spiegel bestseller list.
© Ralf Gemmecke
But the fact that this photo is “looking for a girl who doesn’t even exist” surprises the expert.
“How did this come about?
In the photo, Rebecca corresponds to the so-called Lolita type, who attracts attention with her appearance.
Why should the investigators take a different picture if they receive this one for investigation purposes?
They can’t know that Rebecca actually doesn’t really look like that.”
What seems explicable is that it had to happen quickly.
And: The family quickly provided more pictures in search of “Becci”.
“Looked for a girl with a picture that doesn’t exist.”
Profiler Axel Petermann
Homicide detective: Experience shows that “there is even more violence in a family than in the mafia”
“We know,” says Petermann, “that the family, as a supposed place of security, offers its members protection and security.
But if I depict it visually, there seems to be even more violence there than in the mafia.
To put it bluntly, the family could also be a criminal organization.
That sounds harsh, but daily experience proves this approach.”
Is the family's expressed hope of seeing Rebecca again justified?
Petermann believes more in the prosecutor's theory.
But with all the experience from decades of investigative work, he says: “The case can still be solved.
In the end, people are always involved.
And we don’t know whether they won’t correct their statements in a few years.”
The Reusch family was not available for comment.
The 3rd Homicide Squad of the State Criminal Police Office will receive information by calling (030) 4664-911333 or by email at lka113-tipp@polizei.berlin.de.