An English-speaking teenager who claims he spent the past five years living in a German forest with his dad seems "like a normal teenager," his caregiver told a British newspaper on Tuesday.
"I'm all alone in the world, I don't know who I am. Please help me," the teen reportedly told workers at the Berlin City Hall when he walked in off the street early this month.
Police say their initial investigation into his story has gone nowhere, despite visits by investigators, psychologists and linguists.
The case has created a sensation in Europe, with papers dubbing the teen, who calls himself Ray, the "forest boy."
The teen has spoken little to authorities other than to say that he had lived in the German forest with this father, before his dad died in a fall and was buried last month. He says he remembers nothing of his early life.
Ray remains in state care in Berlin and has quickly adjusted to city life, one of his caregivers told Telegraph newspaper.
Berte Kohn, the manager of the Jugendnotdienst shelter for troubled youth, told the Telegraph. Ray remained quiet and spoke little with the German teens because of the language barrier.
"But there were no problems with him and he seemed happy to be inside, to sleep in a comfortable bed and take regular showers," Kohn said. "He mixed with the others like a normal teenager but spoke little."
Ray showed up in Berlin on Sept. 5 carrying a backpack and sleeping bag, police spokeswoman Miriam Tauchmann told msnbc.com. He said he was 17 and told officials he and his dad were living in tents and huts until his father died recently.
“He has no identity card, no papers, no passport, nothing," Tauchmann told msnbc.com. "He looked very good — not like a wild man or anything like that. Physically and mentally, everything is OK with him.”
Tauchmann said the boy claimed that he and his father took to the woods after his mother died about five years ago. The boy recalled his mother's name as Doreen and his father's as Ryan, but could not remember anything else about his family history.