Full Name: Inga Gehricke

Alternative Name:

Case Status: Missing

Record ID#: 0205

*The names “Jane Doe”  and “John Doe” are English names used when the person’s true name is not known. If used above, the name refers to a person of unknown identity.

Date of Birth*: Circa 2010
Birthplace: Schonebeck, Germany
Age at the Time: 5
Age Group: Toddler (2 to 5 Years Old)
Biological Sex: Female
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Skin Complexion: Fair or Light
Shoe Size:
Ethnicity: Caucasian or White
Nationality: Germany
Languages Spoken: German

*If the date says January 1, this is often just a placeholder for an unknown specific date. It usually means “sometime that year”.

Physical Build: Slim or Thin

Height:

Weight

Distinguishing Marks:

• Dental Issues

Medical Condition:
Physical Abnormality:
Dental Condition: Both of her upper central incisors were missing
Scars & Other Marks:
Piercings:
Tattoos:

Other Descriptors:

Clothing

• Mint colored long-sleeve shirt with butterflies and ruffles on the shoulders
• Pink sneakers with suede (‘Elefanten’),
• Tights
• Blue Jeans

Possessions:

• Bright neon yellow hair bands

Date of the Disappearance*: May 2, 2015

Description: Inga Gehricke, a five-year-old girl from Schönebeck, Germany, vanished on May 2, 2015, while visiting relatives in the rural village of Wilhelmshof in Saxony-Anhalt. The family was gathered for a barbecue at a friend’s property, which included a house surrounded by dense forest. Around 7:00 p.m. (19:00), Inga joined other children to collect firewood for a campfire from the nearby woods, approximately 100 meters from the house. Earlier, she had helped carry drinks to a nearby sports field and was seen playing along the forest’s edge. When the other children returned without her, her family immediately began searching, but she was nowhere to be found.

Inga was described as having long, medium-toned blonde hair styled in braided plaits, soft light eyebrows, and long eyelashes. She was wearing a light blue shirt with butterfly motifs, blue jeans, and pink shoes. The area was isolated, with limited visibility due to the thick woodland, and initial theories suggested she might have wandered off and gotten lost. However, no traces—such as clothing, footprints, or personal items—were ever discovered despite extensive efforts.

The response was swift: Family and friends searched until nightfall, and police were notified around 8:30 p.m. A massive operation ensued, involving hundreds of volunteers, police dogs, helicopters with thermal imaging, divers in nearby waterways, and ground teams combing the forest. Over the following weeks, the search expanded to include drones, sonar equipment for lakes, and even checks of abandoned buildings and wells. No evidence emerged, leading investigators to suspect foul play early on, possibly an abduction by a stranger given the proximity to a public path and the lack of any signs of an accident or animal involvement.

The case quickly gained national attention in Germany, earning Inga the moniker “Germany’s Madeleine McCann” due to the similarities in the sudden, traceless vanishings of young girls during family outings. Despite public appeals, rewards up to €25,000, and reconstructions on TV shows like Aktenzeichen XY, leads dried up. Theories ranged from accidental death (e.g., falling into a hidden shaft) to kidnapping, with some speculation about local residents or transients in the area.

The unsolved vanishings of Madeleine McCann (2007, Portugal), René Hasee (1996, Portugal), and Inga Gehricke (2015, Germany) have haunted investigators and families alike with their striking similarities. For a time, all three cases were considered possibly linked to suspect Christian Brückner, a German citizen who lived near the location of all three disappearances when they occurred. However, he was cleared in Inga’s disappearance and has only circumstantial connections to René’s disappearance, leaving any tie between their cases still uncertain.

Madeleine McCann

Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old from Rothley, UK, vanished on May 3, 2007, while on holiday with her family at a resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal—about 25 miles from Amoreira beach where René disappeared. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, had left Madeleine and her twin siblings asleep in their ground-floor apartment (5A) at the Ocean Club while dining at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends at around 8:30pm (20:30). They allegedly checked on the children periodically, but around 10:00 PM, Madeleine was gone.

Madeleine was described as a slender Caucasian girl with blonde hair, blue-green eyes, a distinctive coloboma in her right eye, and a birthmark on her left calf. She was approximately 90 cm (2’11”) tall.

The case remains open but unsolved. German authorities continue to investigate Christian Brückner as the prime suspect, citing phone records placing him near the resort on the day of the disappearance and witness descriptions of a suspicious man matching his appearance. A senior detective revealed new evidence in September 2025, but no charges have been filed. Brückner denies any involvement and was released from prison in September 2025 after serving time for unrelated convictions.

René Hasee

René Hasee, a six-year-old German boy from Elsdorf near Cologne, disappeared on June 18, 1996, while on a family holiday at Amoreira beach near Aljezur in the Algarve, Portugal. Around 5:00pm (17:00), René was stung by a jellyfish while playing in the shallow waves. He ran toward the ocean to rinse off, leaving his clothes on the sand. When his parents looked up moments later, René was gone. His abandoned clothes and sandals were found, but no other traces.

René was described as a slender boy with short blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and a small scar on his forehead from a bicycle accident. He stood about 120 cm (3’11”) tall and was wearing blue swim trunks.

The case remains open and unsolved. Portuguese and German authorities reopened the investigation in 2020 amid the McCann probe, focusing on Brückner due to his residence in the Algarve from 1995-2007. Phone records and witness sightings place him near Amoreira that summer, but no charges have been filed. Searches of his properties in 2021-2023 yielded no evidence. As of October 2025, tips continue, with a €20,000 reward offered; Brückner remains under investigation but denies involvement.

Comparison

All three children—René (6), Madeleine (3), and Inga (5)—shared physical similarities: fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. They were young, slender, and disappeared during family outings in tourist-heavy or recreational areas (beaches for René and Madeleine, a forested area for Inga). The incidents occurred in early spring/summer: June for René, May for the others. All were on holiday or away from home, with brief moments of parental distraction.

René and Inga were German speakers, while Madeleine spoke English, but a German suspect could plausibly interact with them. Brückner, with prior convictions involving children (including a six-year-old girl), has been linked circumstantially to René and Madeleine due to his presence in Portugal around those times. However, the connections are weak: no direct evidence ties him to René beyond proximity and timing, and he was cleared in Inga’s case. With Christian Brückner ruled out in Inga’s disappearance, there are fewer similarities between her case and the other two, as Inga’s occurred in Germany rather than Portugal, lacked the beach setting, and has no ongoing ties to Brückner—making her vanishing potentially unrelated and highlighting it as more of a geographic outlier. It’s possible the cases are unrelated, or only some are connected.

Nearly three decades after René’s disappearance, and with Madeleine and Inga’s cases also unresolved, the families continue to seek answers. Whether linked by a common perpetrator or mere coincidence, these tragedies highlight the vulnerabilities of children in seemingly safe environments. The public is urged to report any information to authorities, as even small tips could bring closure. As of October 2025, hope persists, but the mysteries endure.

Multiple Victims?: Maybe

Rumored or Actual Sightings:

*If the date says January 1, this is often just a placeholder for an unknown specific date. It usually means “sometime that year”.

Date the Body was Recovered:

Description: Unknown

Time of Death:

Cause of Death:

Recovered Remains (if partial):

Suspected Homicide?:

Multiple Victims?: Yes

DNA Tested (No Match):

*If the date says January 1, this is often just a placeholder for an unknown specific date. It usually means “sometime that year”.

Description:

License Plate:

Description: