Bonn cold case about dead infant on Aktenzeichen XY

Bonn | On December 10, 1987, a walker found a black cloth bag containing the body of a newborn.

The walker was walking along the Fritz-Schroeder-Ufer in Bonn on this December morning at around 10:12 a.m. The black fabric bag was on the NATO ramp – a boat ramp – right at the waterline.

The walker looked inside. He saw towels covered in blood and the body of what was obviously a newborn baby. The police and public prosecutor's office had the baby autopsied. The examination revealed that the baby was born prematurely in the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy, but was still viable.

The officers investigated with doctors about women who were pregnant at the time but could not prove that they had given birth. Now, 37 years after the walker was found, a cold case unit of the Bonn Criminal Investigation Department is reopening the case. They are hoping for new clues. The officers also published pictures of the towels that were found at the time.

The officials ask:

Who can provide information about a woman who was pregnant in the autumn/winter of 1987 and may have given birth to her child without any outside help or hospitalisation?

Who can provide information about a household in which the towels or clothing items shown were present before December 10, 1987, but then disappeared?

The Bonn police will accept your information on 0228 15-0 or by email to [email protected]. On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, the case of Franz Wirges, who is part of the Bonn police's Cold Case Investigation Group, will be presented in the ZDF program “Aktenzeichen XY … ungelöst”.