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-Issue Number 200 |
Thursday, December 1, 2005 | Page
3 |
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Page [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]
WE FOUND INTERPOL'S MISSING MAN
... AND BROUGHT HIM BACK FOR MUM’
“The cave is warm and dry and that was all I was looking for.
I found pieces to build with on the beach and took materials from other
shacks that had been built before.
“There were one or two things from a construction site and I used
fresh bamboo and palm leaves to block the entrance to the cave. If I
needed fresh water I went to Adeje golf course. If there was a beach
party I would take food from that.”
While Karl was living his subsistence lifestyle, his mother Denise was
distraught with worry.
Denise flew to Tenerife to meet up with her son after we found him.
She said: “It was months ago when he last rang but he had said
he would ring back and never did. Karl said he was sleeping rough and
had no passport. He seemed very desperate and I worried that he would
top himself.”
The Manchester Evening News also published Denise’s appeal, but
with no result.
Karl
Smith – feared dead.
Our appeal brought new information to The Tenerife Sun that Karl was
living in a cave at the time of his last bartender’s job in Los
Cristianos. Other reports also gave hope – but turned out to be
false leads. A person matching Karl’s description had been seen
living rough further up Tenerife’s west coast.
Using a five-year-old photo provided by Bury police we talked to naturalists
and vagrants living in an isolated part of the coast. Some claimed they
had seen Karl as recently as days before. Then our break came when an
English girl called Kelly, who was living under a polythene shelter,
said she had seen him entering his cave the day before. She led us to
his front door, made from cane and palm tree leaves, and Karl was found.
Pensioner murdered in his bed
A FRAIL pensioner was slain in his bed during a frenzied
attack with a nutcracker and a knife last week.
The peaceful town of Buenavista del Norte was in shock after a care
worker discovered her elderly patient brutally murdered at his home.
The sleepy community, more famous for its Seve Ballesteros designed
golf course, was devastated by the death of popular 83- year-old German
resident Karl
Heinrich, found in a pool of blood
at the foot of his bed.
The aged victim was known to have been engaged in a longstanding quarrel
with a neighbour about her dogs.
Police revealed the bedridden man received several stab wounds to his
neck, face and tongue as well as bruising to his eyes and said the weapons
used were most likely nutcrackers and a knife.
A 46-year-old American woman from the town was arrested the same day
and charged with his murder.
A young care worker found Mr Heinrich when she arrived for her 9am Monday
morning shift at his house in Calle El Cardón on November 21.
The terrified girl called cops to the scene and police interviewed several
people who told of quarrels between the man and his neighbour. Guardia
Civil officers investigating believe the murderer entered his home over
a side wall.
They added the man was practically defenceless as he had been unable
to walk properly without a stick for several years.
A woman was charged in Court 2, Icod de los Vinos, where the
judge ordered her to be detained at Tenerife II jail, La Laguna.
*All
smiles as Karl is greeted by mum,
Denise, and grandfather, Brian.
The Tenerife Sun then moved Karl into rented accommodation
for the night where he was able to have his first hot shower for six months
– and went through three disposable razors shaving off his beard.
We provided him with warm clothes and food before informing police in
England we had found their man. The message was passed on to his family
and one day after Karl returned to civilisation his mother and grandfather
flew to Tenerife for an emotional reunion. Karl, stunned by our rescue
and media appeal and the accompanying police search, said: “Your
timing could not have been better. Things have been really tough recently
and my mind has not been right for the last three weeks.
“You’ve got here in the nick of time. I’m not sure how
much longer I could have held on. “I’ve been desperate and
wondering how I was going to get myself out of this situation. My life
had gone way off track.”
But when distraught Denise, 47, finally flew to Tenerife with Karl’s
70-year-old grandfather it was to receive good news.
The Tenerife Sun arranged a meeting between mother and son at our office
and both were overcome with emotion and relief. When we phoned Karl’s
uncle Rafael, a restaurateur in Manchester, he breathed a sigh of relief
and struggled for words. “Thank you,” he said, “It is
the best news. You’ve got a free meal waiting for you in my restaurant
whenever you’re over here.”
Karl’s grandmother broke down in tears when she heard the news.
And his grandfather, Brian Farrand, threw his arm around Karl and promised
him some good care and attention. Karl, his mother and grandfather all
spoke to WPC Jane Nolan, heading up the case in Whitefield, near Bury.
The policewoman said: “Everyone at the station is very happy. We’ll
be having a few beers together tonight. It has been a long search and
we’re happy it has come to a happy ending. “We had a huge
response from your newspaper’s appeal, and you have found Karl which
is fantastic. The detective inspectors are over the moon and we
can’t thank you enough.”
Karl is expected to return home for Christmas with his family after he
has received an emergency passport to travel.
The Tenerife Sun wishes Karl and all his family an extra special Merry
Christmas this year.
email jonathan@thetenerifesun.com