In 1991, a 16-year-old was found dead in Cologne, and the murder has not been solved to this day. Now the case is being reopened – a mass genetic test is said to lead to the murderer.
A good 32 years after the murder of a 16-year-old in Cologne, the police want to increase the pressure on the perpetrator with a mass DNA test. The mass genetic test started in a Cologne primary school on Saturday. “We want to make it clear to him that we are on his heels,” said chief investigator Markus Weber in the run-up to the investigation.
The investigators asked a total of around 350 men who in 1991 had a connection to the district of Poll on the right bank of the Rhine to take part in the saliva sample. In the elementary school, preparations started in the morning. The first people arrived at the test center that had been set up.
On October 16, 1991, 16-year-old Seckin Caglar disappeared at a tram stop on her way home from her apprenticeship. Her body was found behind a bush the next morning.
Brother asks witnesses to contact police
“That was the day my childhood was ruined,” said the victim’s brother, Basri Caglar, who was eight at the time of the crime. He asked potential witnesses who may have remained silent out of fear to contact the police. “I can’t imagine that nobody saw or heard anything at the time.”
In addition to residents, allotment garden owners and construction workers were asked to submit a saliva sample. Participation is voluntary and aimed at witnesses, emphasized Weber. Anyone who does not participate, however, must expect to be scrutinized more closely by the investigators.
New analysis methods for DNA samples
A few days ago, the Cologne police’s “Cold Cases” investigation group, which is reopening the case, launched a large-scale publicity campaign with posters, flyers and its own website so that potential witnesses could get in touch.
Traces of the killer’s DNA were found on the body. With the serial test, the police want to exclude people as perpetrators – and at best get the murderer on the ropes. According to the police, thanks to new analysis methods, it is now also possible to use a DNA sample to determine whether someone is related to the perpetrator.
