As of: February 17, 2024, 5:00 a.m
By: Maximilian Kettenbach
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The Rebecca Reusch case leaves authorities and experts alike puzzled.
The girl remains missing.
What role did the police and public prosecutors play?
Berlin - "As far as I know, the public prosecutor's office is looking for the body." Berlin's senior public prosecutor Ralph Knispel, whose namesake Martin is leading the investigation, makes it clear what most investigators have long accepted as a sad truth.
Rebecca Reusch probably didn't leave the house of her sister Jessica and her husband alive.
And Florian, the brother-in-law, is still considered the number one suspect.
The student disappeared on February 18, 2019.
After five years, the investigators are holding back publicly.
Your former colleague Axel Petermann can understand that.
“You seem to be convinced that you know who the perpetrator is.
They will want to continue their investigation calmly in order to collect enough clues and evidence that point to the brother-in-law as the perpetrator." In order to avoid a "huge embarrassment" in the event of another arrest, the next judge should have "no doubt whatsoever about the brother-in-law's perpetratorship and no other person should be considered for Rebecca's death," he explains the investigators' possible tactics.
Missing Rebecca Reusch: The role of the police and public prosecutor
In our five-part series we looked at the five most important theories, examined the suspect Florian R. and the central role of the family.
What is still missing is the role of the investigators.
They are the focus of this part.
IPPEN.MEDIA series part 5
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 4 of the series: Looking at the family: allegations against Rebecca's family
Criticism number 1: The investigators came to the brother-in-law's Google search history much too late
When the then 15-year-old Rebecca from the Berlin district of Neukölln didn't show up at school on the morning of February 18, 2019, alarm bells quickly went off.
She had slept with brother-in-law Florian and sister Jessica the night before and was alone in the house with Florian in the morning.
He said that he had been sleeping, but in the meantime seemed to have googled strangulation practices during sexual intercourse.
However, this only came out in 2023, when the investigators finally had the data.
Petermann has no understanding of this: “The results of the brother-in-law’s search history on the Internet only came four years later, and that was during such relevant investigations,” he says.
“These are extremely important findings that could provide information about the brother-in-law’s sexual preferences and at the same time raise the question of whether he was trying to become intimate with Rebecca and also realize his sexual fantasies,” says Petermann.
Any possible traces have probably been destroyed long ago.
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
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The police initially take action quickly: Rebecca's brother-in-law has to be in custody twice - and is released again
Rebecca didn't show up at the bus stop or at her school.
The family quickly initiated a public search and called in the missing persons office of the Berlin police.
A missing persons report went out on the same day.
But soon there were indications of a possible homicide, so the homicide squad quickly took over further investigations.
Because after a few hours the investigators noticed the brother-in-law and sister's pink Renault on the way to Poland, Florian became entangled in contradictions and thus made himself more and more suspicious, he was arrested.
However, he was released again.
Before the investigators arrested him again a few days later, but had to release him from custody a second time due to a lack of evidence.
Christian Matzdorf is a criminal scientist.
He was with the Berlin State Police for 30 years and solved violent crimes there before he looked at the scientific side: “The interesting thing about it is that the suspicion still existed and the role of the brother-in-law is still unclear today and is associated with many questions. “He remained suspect number one.
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
The presumption of innocence still applies.
In this case, everyone emphasizes this again and again.
But the evidence incriminates the suspect.
“There seems to be no evidence of a bloody crime in the house itself;
But that doesn't have to be the case, because there are always crimes that are carried out with hands and are bloodless," explains Petermann.
Criticism number 2: The photo of brother-in-law Florian
Two photos are the focus of much criticism.
Firstly, the picture of Rebecca that was used to search for her and that is still used in missing person reports.
On the other hand, it's about the brother-in-law's mugshot.
The whole of Germany now knows this, also because the investigators showed it to an audience of millions on the ZDF program Aktenzeichen XY.
It should be remembered: There is still a lack of evidence against Florian today.
Chief Public Prosecutor Knispel sees no reason for remorse: “It is always difficult to find evidence.
If the proceedings against the accused were to be discontinued, his displeasure would appear understandable, but the ordering of criminal procedural measures does not depend on the state of mind of the accused - and should not."
Matzdorf describes it approvingly as “urgently necessary at the time in order to obtain witness statements that would help create his movement profile in the room.”
Petermann points out that this is a “tried and legitimate means” that must be carefully weighed up as a “balancing of interests between personal rights and the state’s right to information”.
“Of course, publishing the photo quickly runs the risk of prejudice from the public.”
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
Criticism number 3: The filter photo for the search for Rebecca
The photo used to search for Rebecca is discussed far more controversially.
Missing persons expert Peter Jamin told
IPPEN.MEDIA
a year ago accusingly towards investigators: “How do you want to look for a missing person if you have the wrong photo?
I think this is a blatant mistake by the police.” It is incomprehensible that only this photo was used in the associated press release on the fourth anniversary of Rebecca's disappearance.
It is more important to take a photo that is close to her normal appearance.
Chief Public Prosecutor Knispel defends the investigators: “Whether a picture is considered unsuitable by those involved in the proceedings or by the media is not a benchmark for law enforcement authorities.” As far as he knows, they are looking for a body anyway.
There are no two opinions among most experts about the unfortunate choice of photo.
Rather, who is responsible for its use.
Petermann and Matzdorf take the investigators out of the firing line and blame the Reusch family.
Controversial image: This photo is used to search for Rebecca.
© Berlin Police
“This picture is the identifying mark of the case,” Petermann speculates about the picture’s still use.
“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." When he looks at other pictures of Rebecca in comparison, he thinks: "Oops, a stranger is looking at me.
It’s a shame.”
Matzdorf sees the role of the family as “central” in this case.
“The police could only work with what the family provided them – and only with the information.”
Would artificially created search photos of Rebecca make sense?
Rebecca would be 20 years old by now.
There are five years between the then current images and today.
What would she look like?
Would witnesses really recognize her?
What if the investigators searched using an artificially created phantom image?
Petermann has great doubts: “This image created could not correspond to her real appearance.” But it could actually help to get clues about Rebecca’s whereabouts – if she is still alive.
But no one in the investigative team assumes that.
Criticism number 4: Witnesses did not feel taken seriously by the investigators
Several witnesses claim to have seen Rebecca and two say that they did not feel taken seriously by the police.
On the one hand, it's about a neighbor who claims to have seen the girl on the street of her older sister's house on the day she disappeared.
According to her, the student from Berlin carried the purple blanket under her arm.
She actually seems to have disappeared with Rebecca.
The woman commented on this in a podcast.
She says the police simply waved them off.
"Yes / Yes.
That couldn't possibly be the case.
The investigation would have revealed something completely different,” a police officer is said to have replied to the neighbor.
The officers replied to the podcast makers in winter 2021 that the neighbor had been treated “appropriately and respectfully, like all other whistleblowers”.
“Their perception then and now does not match the objective status of the investigation.
“Ms [ ] must therefore be mistaken.”
Another witness claims to have seen the then 15-year-old at a bus stop on the day she disappeared.
“I recognized her face.
Once I see people, I don't confuse them," the witness explained at the time in an interview with
RTL
.
She also reported this to the investigators at the time.
Public prosecutor Martin Knispel (formerly: Glage) explained in 2021 that over time all statements from alleged eyewitnesses could be put into perspective: “This was checked extensively and several times, but she could not be seen on the video cameras in the buses” and: “Also We followed up on other leads that Rebecca supposedly saw elsewhere in the city.
We can also rule that out today.”
Criticism number 5: What does the family accuse the officials of?
The relationship between the police and the Reusch family is considered extremely tense.
Why?
The investigators accuse her of being uncooperative.
Matzdorf, who is still in contact with those involved in the case, knows that the family's behavior “caused confusion” among the police.
The family, in turn, cannot understand why the investigation is only going in one direction - Florian's - and why witness statements from their point of view are ignored.
The publication of the brother-in-law's mugshots will probably do the rest.
Mother Brigitte made it clear again in April 2023 that she believed Rebecca was still alive.
With the prosecution's theory that Rebecca did not leave the house alive, both sides disagree on a crucial point.
Rebecca Reusch smiles.
The then 15-year-old has been missing for five years.
© private/Imago (montage)
Conclusion: Have the investigators done enough?
The police and public prosecutor's office certainly did not act without errors.
But experts attest that the police acted quickly at the beginning of the investigation.
For days, forest areas, lakes and other places were searched with the help of divers, cadaver dogs and echo sounders.
“The search obviously turned out to be very difficult – this is especially true in forest areas.
It's so easy to imagine, but landscapes change and there are surface changes caused by animals, for example," explains Senior Public Prosecutor Knispel.
The brother-in-law's journey towards Poland was quickly determined.
It was also hoped that the ZDF program Aktenzeichen XY would provide information - and received thousands.
Meanwhile, the management of the 3rd Homicide Squad of the LKA Berlin also changed.
Chief Detective Michael Hoffmann retired in autumn 2022 and Katharina Thomalla replaced him, as the Berlin police confirmed to
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
Not much has happened since then - at least it hasn't been made public.
Once excluded from the house search in April 2023, when acoustic measurements were carried out and the officers were looking for the belt of a bathrobe.
Wasted effort, as one had to admit to oneself by now.
The spokesman for the public prosecutor's office tells us: “The file is not closed, new leads are being investigated.
However, there are currently no new leads from the investigation.”
The 2023 search was another clear signal that there are still further options.
Crime professor Christian Matzdorf
The great effort that was initially made will have been greatly reduced.
Simply because a large number of clues and traces have already been investigated.
The current team in the Rebecca murder squad is likely to be a small one, believes Axel Petermann, the murder investigator for many years who then became a profiler.
It's probably about a few officers who are following up on new leads.
As soon as promising approaches emerge, the team would be strengthened again by additional colleagues, Petermann suspects.
“My impression is that everything legally and factually possible was exhausted during the investigation.
The search in 2023 was another clear signal that there are still further options,” says Matzdorf as someone who also has the scientific side in mind.
He hopes for a “domino effect” through an impulse that will put the puzzle together or that the perpetrator or witnesses may at some point evaluate certain situations differently.
Then the case could be solved.
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.