German TV show revisits cold case of infants found dead in backpacks

The German television show "Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst" is set to revisit a chilling cold case involving two deceased siblings, aiming to find those responsible. The investigation centers on two infants discovered years apart: a newborn girl found in a backpack in Dortmund's Schulte-Witten-Park on December 25, 1999, and a newborn boy found in a backpack near Krefeld's main train station on May 11, 2005.

Subsequent DNA analysis confirmed that the two children were siblings. Authorities determined the girl died from violence, and the boy's cause of death was also investigated. Following the discovery of the boy, police received three anonymous letters from someone claiming to be the mother. Linguistic analysis and the type of paper used suggested the writer might have originated from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR).

The upcoming broadcast on June 3rd will also highlight other cases from North Rhine-Westphalia. One involves an attempted murder from November 5, 2025, where a 51-year-old man was severely beaten by an assailant, leaving him partially paralyzed and unable to speak months later. Another case concerns the Cologne police's search for a man born in Iraq, suspected of murdering his pregnant 19-year-old daughter in Cologne in 2017. The suspect reportedly fled to Iraq shortly after the crime and informed the police of the body's location from there.