After a major search operation

Three-year-old abducted? New details about man (70)

On Sunday, the public prosecutor's office and police announced the initial results of the investigation into the missing three-year-old girl in Cologne. The girl disappeared on Friday evening and was found on Saturday morning in the apartment of a pensioner. The 70-year-old was then provisionally arrested. Now there are new details. 

The 70-year-old has been released from custody, according to the police and the public prosecutor's office. There were no concrete indications of a physical assault, even after a medical examination of the child.

"Suspicion of child abduction"
The investigation proceedings are therefore "currently based solely on the suspicion of child abduction". There were no grounds for detaining the accused. "The investigation, in particular into the circumstances of the child's stay in the apartment, is ongoing," said the police spokesperson. The 70-year-old, who has been released, is being represented by a lawyer. 

Girl suddenly disappeared from park
The three-year-old from the city of Kassel, who was visiting relatives in Cologne with her parents, disappeared in a park on Friday evening. She had been out with her aunt when she lost sight of her niece on her pink balance bike, investigators reported. The park was "very crowded" at the time.

Man (70): No resistance during arrest
The police then searched for the three-year-old with a large contingent. Sniffer dogs and a helicopter were used. As part of the search operation, calls were also made to local residents to question them and obtain information. The child was finally found in the 70-year-old's apartment in an apartment building not far from the park - more than twelve hours after his disappearance. The man offered no resistance when he was arrested, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said on Sunday.

How did the girl get into the apartment?
It is still unclear how the girl got into the apartment and how long she stayed there. The man had been questioned, the spokesman said, without giving further details. The 70-year-old's apartment was also forensically examined. According to the findings, there was no family relationship. The three-year-old was also to be questioned in the presence of her parents. The investigation is still ongoing.