German Forest 1
An unidentified English-speaking boy emerged from the forest near Berlin, Germany after allegedly spending five years in the woods with his father. creative commons

"I'm alone in the world. I don't know who I am. Please help me."

Those are the haunting words of the 17 year old boy named Ray that has been discovered living rough in a forest in Germany for the past five years.

The young English speaking boy who claims he had been living rough in a German forest has spoken of his fear after his father died almost two weeks ago. The young boy, has been confirmed as a 17 year old and is named Ray, he speaks fluent English and arrived at Berlin's City Hall on 5 September 2011 saying that his father had been killed in an accident.

"He said he needed help, that he didn't know where to go and had no one in the world to look after him," a civil servant, who did not want to be named, but witnessed the boys discovery, said.

"I tried as much as I could to find out details about where he was from but he just didn't know. He had only a few words of German but was completely fluent in English, and said that his father had told him it was an important language. Although he seemed to be a native English speaker, I detected some sort of accent," the civil servant added.

The civil servant also described how she attempted to find out where he might be from and had to explain to him the concept of a passport.

"He looked completely puzzled when I asked him if he had a passport or identity card and I had to describe what they were. But he said he could read because his father had taught him," she said.

According to Sky News, the boy's father died after he was killed in a a fall just over two weeks ago. The news agency reports that the boy says he buried his father's body is a shallow grave in the woods and covered it with stones before returning to civilisation in Berlin.
The Telegraph reports that the youth is now in social care in Berlin and had been living rough with his father since his mother died in a car accident.

Berlin police made an appeal to Interpol to widen the search for his identity to forces across the world but so far have yet to receive a response.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said they were aware of the reports and were looking into them, but are also waiting to find out if the boy is a British citizen.

Germany