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Petra P.* was untraceable for 31 years. The then 24-year-old computer science student disappeared without a trace in Braunschweig, Germany, in 1986. Investigators believe it was a violent crime. ‘I knew she had been murdered when I first read the file. I would have bet 100,000 euros on it,” Holger Kunkel, the commissioner responsible at the time, told RTL. A carpenter’s apprentice confessed to the murder of the young woman – a lie, as it turned out. Petra P. was declared dead – although her body was never found. No wonder: Petra P. was still alive.
In the RTL magazine ‘Life’, the woman who disappeared for decades now speaks for the first time about her time underground: ‘You have to live inconspicuously and know that there are some things you cannot do.’ Petra P. led a sober life under the false name Susanne Schneider.
She earned money with temporary jobs, as a cleaner or tutor. She always paid her rent in cash because she didn’t have a bank account. She used buses and trains instead of buying a car. “I didn’t go to the doctor,” she says. Petra P also did not go on holiday. “She was the gray mouse in the big city, that was her cover,” the now retired inspector Kunkel (65) told “Bild”.
“I was in shock”
She is now over 60 and wears a black and white patterned dress, a pearl necklace around her neck and glasses on her nose. A brown wig to protect her anonymity. Because Petra P. did not voluntarily return to society. Her then landlord called the police in 2015 after her home was broken into. Petra P. was unmasked when she had to show her ID. After more than 30 years. “I was in shock,” she says.
On the day she disappeared, she says: “I gave the keys to a roommate because I didn’t want to cause any problems.” She built a new life more than 300 kilometers from her parents’ home. The old Petra was left behind somewhere in Braunschweig. And there’s a sad reason for that: “I think I’ve become schizophrenic,” she says. Her voice breaks when she talks about the past. She reveals that she was sexually abused for the first five years of her life. “I didn’t know that at the time. I suppressed the fact that I was being abused like that.”
What exactly happened in her childhood cannot be reconstructed all these years later. From a purely legal point of view, the actions are time-barred. Petra P. is now processing her past with a psychologist. Meanwhile, accidental exposure equals liberation. “I now have an iPad, I am on the internet, which makes me very happy.” She is also happy that she can go to the doctor when she is sick. Petra P. has only one wish for the future: that her file remains closed forever. (sam)
*Name known
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
