Police in the German capital sent a picture of the smiling blond boy wearing a t-shirt and a gold necklace to news outlets asking for help in getting to the bottom of a story that captured the world’s imagination last year.
“Despite the extensive studies and investigations, the youth office and the Berlin police were still not successful in identifying the boy who calls himself ‘Ray’,” the police statement, which was published in German and English, said.
“Who knows the person shown in this picture? Who can give any information about his identity? Who can give any information about the person’s possible relatives?”
Giving his name only as “Ray” and his date of birth as June 20, 1994, the teenager sought help on September 5 at Berlin’s City Hall speaking English and just a few words of German.
“He claimed he only knew his date of birth and his first name. He was sent to youth emergency services,” police said. “There he told an adventurous story.”
The boy was unable to give his family name, birthplace or any other biographical information but said he had spent the last five years living in a forest with his father until he died suddenly in August.