A GERMAN woman has turned up alive and well in Dusseldorf – 31 years after she vanished and a man confessed to killing her.
Petra Pazsitka was reported missing in 1984 after failing to show up at her brother’s birthday party.
The story hit the headlines in Germany, prompting a widespread manhunt for the missing woman – who was 24 years old at the time.
Running out of ideas, police detectives turned to a German TV Crimewatch-style show appealing for help.
That led cops to a man suspected of raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl.
He subsequently confessed to killing Petra – but later withdrew his statement.
The body of the ‘victim’ was never found and she was declared dead in 1989.
Staggeringly though, it's emerged Petra is still very much alive – after she was found living in Dusseldorf under the name Mrs Schneider, with no official documentation.
Now aged 55, her true identity came to light after she called police to report a burglary at her home.
She introduced herself to detectives as Mrs Schneider, but admitted her actual name after they asked for identification.
Petra has been moving from city to city over the past three decades without telling any of her relatives she was alive, according to Joachim Grande of Braunschweig Police.
He added: “She did not have a bank account and paid all her bills cash.
“Her brother and mother were in shock and tears when they heard the news.”
A spokesman for Braunschweig Police said: “As to the motive of her disappearance, she gave no explanation, and expressly said that she continues to want no contact with the public or her family.”
Prosecutors don’t consider Petra to have committed a crime by vanishing without trace – but, since she’s on the death register, she must officially inform German authorities of her existence.
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