Police release photo of German forest boy

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BERLIN, June 13 (UPI) -- Police in Germany have released a photograph of a teenager who appeared in Berlin last year and said he had been living in the woods with his father.

At the time, the boy, who had been given the name Ray, said he had no idea of his family background. He told police he and his father had been in the forest for five years, sleeping in a tent or in hunting shelters, and had gone there after his mother died in a car crash when he was 12.

Thomas Neuendorf, a Berlin police spokesman, said Ray's story does not add up, The Local.de reported.

"There were things that did not fit with his story -- he was relatively clean and the tent he had with him did not look like it had been used for five years," Neuendorf said. "It was also simply unimaginable that someone could live near Berlin for such a long time without being seen."

When Ray turned up in Berlin in September, he said his father had died after a fall a few weeks earlier and he had buried him in the woods. He said his father had given him emergency instructions to walk north until he found people.

Nine months later, police do not know Ray's nationality, native language or even his age, although they say he appears to be between 16 and 20. He does not match anyone listed as missing.

They say he also seems to be remarkably uncurious about tracing his family but finally gave permission to release a photograph.