UPDATE & CONFIRMATION January 20, 2014 Gütersloh Police

01/20/2014 | 10:16 a.m

POL-GT: Allegedly kidnapped child - robber's gun has no basis whatsoever

Gütersloh (ots) - Gütersloh/Gütersloh district (CK) - For several months now, rumors have been circulating on the Internet, especially on Facebook, about a child who was said to have been kidnapped from a large shopping center (furniture stores and department stores were also called) in Gütersloh.

This child's hair was allegedly shaved off in the toilet by a Romanian couple in order to prepare for an organ trade.

The police in the Gütersloh district make it clear at this point that such an issue has NEVER occurred in the district.

These are just startling rumors that are circulating on the internet and have NO basis whatsoever.

Please send any inquiries to:
Gütersloh Police
Press Office Gütersloh Police
Telephone: 05241 869 0
Email: [email protected]

This “shock news” occurs again and again on Facebook and many users are unsettled by it. The content of this “news” is almost always identical, although the locations and countries always change. In this case too, we think it is a fake. Of course, you should take warnings seriously, no question about it, but you shouldn't just rely on Facebook for such reports "just because your friend said/posted it". You should also find out from other sources, such as regional press offices/websites/police and of course Google, whether there is any truth to a report or not! In 90% of cases, such information can only be found on Facebook.

This is the message:

(These are already available in different versions on Facebook. We have copied them 1:1 into this article)

version 1

At Primark, two Romanian women tried to kidnap a 2 year old child, the child disappeared, the store was closed, the child was found in the changing room with the two women who had already cut off the child's hair and wanted the child to have an injection give.(Organ trafficking) People watch your children!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Variant 2

At Primark in the Waterfront, two Romanian women tried to kidnap a year-old child. The child had disappeared. The store was closed. The child was found in the changing room with the two women who had already cut off the child's hair and wanted to give the child an injection. Organ trafficking People take care of your children (on June 24, 2012 9:27 p.m.)

Variant 3

At Primark in the Waterfront, two Romanian women tried to kidnap a 2-year-old child, the child disappeared, the store was closed, the child was found in the changing room with the two women who had already cut off the child's hair and wanted him Give child an injection. Unfortunately, please share it and warn other parents.

Variant 4

My father's wife just told us something unbelievable. Her colleague was in Primark in Hanover with her daughter and granddaughter (2 years old). Suddenly the girl was gone. Mom and grandma did a quick search and then immediately contacted the staff, who then immediately locked all the exits in the market. They then found the girl in the women's toilet, half her head was already shaved!!! An Eastern European gang is on the move and is targeting small children up to around 2.5 years old. They specifically select the children in such large stores and already have a cotton ball with anesthetic in their hand. They grab the children, shave their hair, tie headscarves around them and drag them away while they sleep. According to the police, the children are abducted to Eastern Europe and given to people who trade in organs

Variant 5

Last week a tragedy occurred at the Frankencenter in Nuremberg Langwasser. A mom left her stroller with her 2-year-old daughter right next to her. When she was briefly distracted in the rummaging table and looked back at her daughter, the stroller had disappeared!!!! The c&a was then immediately locked and no one was allowed in or out. Luckily, the unconscious girl was found in a changing room. Changed into different clothes and with shaved hair!!! Two Eastern Europeans were also arrested. Organ trafficking is suspected!!!!!!! Please keep an eye on your sweeties even more

Variant 6

Such “stories” have been around for a long time, although there was something like this before but from the IKEA/Dresden Elbepark and back then it wasn't Romanian women, but Czech women and there was also a case (also a hoax back then) where a boy was also in one Shopping center the HAIR was cut off, and at that time ZIGEUNER also wanted to sell the organs for 100 EUR.
But the whole thing took place at H&M.

The information from back then (18.10.2012)

(You can see a lot of similarities when it comes to the content of the posts)

The posting says the following:

>>Dear parents, take care of your children!!!!

... A mother was shopping at H&M with her 4-year-old son.
... His mother sat him in front of the television and she looked for clothes, when she went to him he was no longer there.
She screamed like hell...all the doors were locked...Gypsies had drugged the boy...with ethanol, dragged him into a changing room, shaved off his hair, changed his clothes completely and wanted to escape with the boy. Since all the doors were locked, he was saved! .He was supposed to be sold for 100 € and they would have killed him - condemned to organ trafficking..this happened last week in Steglitz. Please keep posting, it could be your children too<<

The posting looks like this:

However, we found something on the Internet that suggests that this is a hoax.

We would find what we were looking for at TU Berlin!

Here is a screenshot:

If you now compare the content of the Facebook posting with the content of the email, you can see a lot of similarities!

The TU Berlin writes:

“These stories have been circulating for years with changing details (e.g. locations), but there is no real background!”

Further information that this is a hoax can be found in the Austrian daily newspaper “Kleine Zeitung”, which reported on a similar email in April 2007!

Abstract:

Chain letter. Now there is even a chain letter in circulation that is distributed via email. There is also talk of child abduction. In this case, however, the shaved-headed girl was found in the toilet, also wearing someone else's clothes. At the same time, it is pointed out that a similar case recently occurred in a shopping center in Vienna. The “kidnapped” child was found there with dyed red hair. Finally, parents are also asked not to let their “small children out of their sight for a second in various shopping temples”.

Source: daily newspaper “Kleine-Zeitung”

Further references:

Modern myths: Kidnapping at Ikea
Link: http://www.focus.de/wissen/mensch/psychologie/tid-15864/moderne-mythen-kidnapping-bei-ikea_aid_445020.html

Modern myths: The bloodthirsty version comes from the 17th century
Link: http://www.focus.de/wissen/mensch/psychologie/tid-15864/moderne-mythen-die-blutruenstigste-version-stammt-aus-dem- 17-century_aid_445021.html

Update: April 25, 2013

DANGER!!! Michelstädter Takko…

Once again a status post is shared on Facebook that is very similar to the posts just described.

The status post is:

ATTENTION!!!Michelstädter Takko, a woman was shopping with her (small) child and wanted to try on clothes, when she pulled the cloth away, the child disappeared...Was later found disemboweled and without hair...So watch out for your children, There's a sick pig running around here and the police don't want to report it to the media because they don't want panic to break out here in the Odenwald.. HELLO? There's someone running around kidnapping, killing and disemboweling children, and the police DON'T want to PANIC?!

Here too we suspect that this is a hoax.

Update: May 23, 2013

There is another status post on Facebook and again it is similar to the others!

The status post is:

Danger !!!
to all parents in Berlin, there are gypsies on the move who are kidnapping children to get their hands on organs, the children are being sold for 200,300 euros!! In Steglitz a child got away. In Spandau the gypsy woman was arrested.
So take care of your children!!!!

The strange thing about these status posts is that they can only be found on Facebook and not in the media!