More than two decades after little Hilal disappeared, the Hamburg police searched a wooded area on the northern outskirts of the city. The officials followed a lead, said a spokesman on Thursday. The investigators also consistently evaluated old files – in this context they came across the case of a sex offender who had already been convicted several times.
This has now led to the 2.7 hectare forest being searched. The police were on duty with 18 to 25 officers every day for 25 days. According to the information, a body of water was also searched with the help of divers. At first there was no hot lead. There is no concrete evidence of a crime, said the police spokesman. For example, metal objects were secured, which are now being evaluated.
The then ten-year-old Turkish girl has been missing since January 27, 1999. Hilal had brought home a good half-year report that day. The father allowed the daughter to buy sweets in the neighboring shopping center “Elbgaupassage”. Since then, Hilal has disappeared.
It is the only case of a long-term missing child in Hamburg that has not yet been clarified. The police officially assume that the girl was killed.
For a long time, the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office had offered 5,000 euros for information that would lead to the clarification of the crime and to the investigation or arrest of the perpetrator. This sum was increased to 20,000 euros in the summer of 2021. “Since the disappearance of the then 10-year-old child, the police and public prosecutor’s office have carried out their investigations with great human and material effort,” emphasized a spokeswoman for the Hamburg public prosecutor’s office.