"Forest boy" a phony, admits to police he's 20-year-old Dutch man after ID'd by ex-girlfriend

This photo provided by the Berlin police department shows a teenage boy who wandered into the city almost nine months ago saying he had been living for the last five years in the forest with his father. / AP Photo/Berlin Police Department

Updated at 9:22 a.m. ET

(AP) BERLIN - The forest boy mystery is solved: It's not true.

Berlin police said Friday that an English-speaking teenage boy allegedly called Ray who wandered into the city nine months ago saying he had been living in the forest for the last five years has been spinning a yarn.

After publishing his picture earlier this week, police said a former girlfriend identified him as a 20-year-old from the Netherlands who was reported missing last September. Neither Dutch or Berlin police would identify him due to privacy laws, but Netherlands state broadcaster NOS interviewed several friends and said his name was Robin van Helsum.

A German security official with knowledge of the case, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the name. Dutch police spokeswoman Chantal Westerhoff said he was "a 20-year-old man from Hengelo" — near the German border.

Germany releases photo of "Forest Boy"

When confronted with the facts, police say van Helsum admitted the truth.

"The young man known as 'Ray' was confronted with the results of the investigation," police said in a statement. "He then confirmed his real personal details and admitted that the previous story — that he had lived for years in the woods — had been invented."

A Dutch website on missing relatives carried an entry on Robin van Helsum, saying he was born in 1992 and had been missing since Sept. 2, 2011 — three days before he arrived in Berlin. Robin "left after leaving a farewell note. He was last seen traveling with a friend to Berlin. Since then every trace of him is gone," the entry on Vermist.nl says.

Berlin police said even though he had been reported missing, there was no active investigation into his disappearance because there was no evidence of foul play and he was an adult.

Police are now checking whether van Helsum could be charged with fraud.

Previously, van Helsum told authorities that he was born June 20, 1994, but claims not to know his last name or where he's from.

He said his mother, Doreen, died in a car accident when he was 12 and after that he and his father, Ryan, took to the forest. He said they wandered using maps and a compass, staying in tents or caves overnight.

He told authorities that after his father died in August 2011, he buried him in the forest and then walked five days north before ending up in Berlin, and showed up at city hall Sept. 5.

Investigators had been unable to confirm any details about a fatal car accident that matches up with Ray's story and weren't able to find the body of the father — raising "serious doubts" about the story.

He was being taken care of by youth services, and was going to school. When he first appeared, Ray spoke English and a few words of German, but has picked up more German fast, police spokesman Thomas Neuendorf said.

He also quickly adapted to city life and technology, using a laptop and his cell phone with no problems.

"Everything gives the impression that he was not far away from civilization for years," Neuendorf said.

He had a complete set of teeth and no obvious dental work, and his hands, fingernails and teeth appear "well kept."

[bobnjersey]

[Police are now checking whether van Helsum could be charged with fraud.]
------------------------------------
they have to check?

what's the fraud? he told a tall tale about his mother and father ... and what his name is?

why is it anyone's business who his mother and father is ... or where he's been living for the last few months?

in fact ... the 'forest boy' story is much better than the real story.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

He's been living off of German taxpayer money through "youth services", according to the article. He's not a minor; he's a man.

[baileycccc]

He is now shopping for a book and movie deal.

[AnnieDanny]

I didn't think he looked much like a teenager. More like a goofy adult. So I can put my hand up, yes, I saw it coming...

[josephp5]

1st Berliner: Who is that boy walking into town?
2nd Berliner: Never saw him before. He just wandered in from the forest.
Boy: I have been living in the forest for five years.
1st and 2nd Berliners: Amazing!

[Bojax39]

Hands up anybody who saw this coming from day one. (Put your hands down, Berlin police). :-)

[livingtxlife]

Ridiculous they took so long to publish a photo...

[anzianok]

"He was last seen traveling with a friend to Berlin." -Where is this friend? Obviously nowhere to be found, or the friend would have already provided valuable information in the mystery. Could the disappearance of this friend have anything to do with why he made up the story? (psychologically speaking, the part of the story where he buried his father just a few days prior to showing up in Berlin could be partly based in truth)

[sobobx]

He besides Ray Charles didn't see that coming?

[MarieAnne13]

He should be charged and fined, at least. He wasted a whole bunch of time and money. But there's no reason to throw him in jail, he's obviously not dangerous. I wonder why he went to the police, though; it just looks like he was running away to start a new life, why would he need to go to the police? Perhaps he just likes attention...

[KnowerseekerReturns]

Maybe he was hungry from being homeless and wanted to be taken care of.

[Maria11201]

He looks like Billy Mumy a couple of years after "Lost in Space" ended.

[ertve2012]

i was thinking the same thing.