Julia W., a 16-year-old girl from the Grunbach district of Remshalden, was missing for days. Now the police have found her body. There is horror in town.
Grunbach experiences a nightmare. On Friday morning there is sad certainty in the Remshalden district. Julia W., 16 years old, is dead. The police confirmed this to several media – including “t-online” and “Stern”.
Just a day earlier, investigators had discovered her body in Oberlenningen (Esslingen district) in the “Auf dem Bol” forest section. As the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ) reports, the police officers were able to identify the girl based on her clothing.
After days of hoping and worrying, the residents of the 6,300-inhabitant town are now dealing with the new developments in the Julia W. case. Many red, wet eyes can be seen on the shop counters.
“It hangs over the place like a dark bell,” says a trader, while the gray sky oppresses Grunbach with its dense bed of clouds.
The W. family is considered to be well connected in the area, among other things through their involvement in the local handball club – a flagship of Remshalden. The concern is now all the greater.
“It has a different dimension when something like this happens in town,” confirms a saleswoman. Up to the last second, everyone would have hoped that the worst case scenario would not happen. That Julia might still be alive after all.
She describes the days of uncertainty as “endless horror” and knows about the collective sympathy: “Remshalden is upside down.”
Radio news is playing in the shops, many are spellbound by the live ticker on the Julia W case. A passer-by tells us that she recently walked her dog through the undergrowth – in the hope of actively participating. Somehow.
In the morning, a shopkeeper takes down the poster with the missing persons report. Looking for the 16-year-old now hardly seems expedient. Nevertheless, Grunbach does not come to rest.
“It must be bad for the family,” says a local resident. Losing your child is unimaginable. “It’s terrible,” another trader also expresses her sympathy with tears in her eyes.
However, it remains unclear why Julia disappeared. Why she didn’t go to school on Tuesday morning, January 24, as she had told her parents.
Why she took a regional train to Kirchheim unter Teck and there probably boarded a train on the Teckbahn towards Lenningen. Why didn’t she come home again.
“It’s the worst thing that can happen,” says one shopkeeper. As a teenager, he himself lost a family member and knows: “It will never be the same again.”
But it is also clear to him: having certainty about the fate of a loved one can help to process the whole thing. The absolute low point can be the moment you start the grieving process.
Certainty is also promised from the official side for Friday: according to the police, the autopsy of the body is due in the morning. It is intended to provide information as to whether the Julia W. case is a homicide – or whether the 16-year-old may have committed suicide.
“This will clarify a few things,” announces a spokesman.
