Story By: Koen Berghuis, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: CEN
A couple have been arrested for kidnapping a young mum before trying to sell her as a sex slave and make her twin babies their own.
The young mum had been suspected of running away with her three-month-old twins but she was in fact allegedly kidnapped by a couple who wanted to sell her as a sex slave and keep her babies.
Jessica L., 31, went missing in mid-September last year from her picturesque home town of Schmalkalden in the German state of Thuringia.
Pictures Credit: CEN
Investigators, who initially thought she had ran away with her three-month-old twins Mia and Elias, launched a manhunt to find her but to no avail.
However, Jessica and her babies were found on a bridge near the town of Meiningen after two weeks when a witness called the cops.
According to the Meiningen public prosecutor’s office, it turned out that Jessica had been kidnapped.
Prosecutor Jochen Grundler said: “The case is bizarre, almost like something out of a film.”
According to the prosecutor’s office, Jessica was held by a couple identified as Patrik M., 44, and Andrea M., 38.
Prosecutor Markus Knapp said: “Both suspects knew the victim from the pub in Meiningen and lured her into their house by promising to give her baby clothes.”
According to the prosecutor’s office, the couple planned to keep the twins as their own and sell Jessica to someone abroad to make sure “she would never return”.
The couple was in touch with Berlin citizen Eberhard H., 69, who claimed to have foreign contacts and allegedly discussed being a middle man in Jessica’s sale.
However, Jessica managed to escape after 14 days.
Patrik and Andrea M. have since been arrested and are currently locked up in investigative custody.
Prosecutor Knapp said: “We are investigating them on suspicion of human trafficking and deprivation of minors.”
If found guilty, they could face between six months and 10 years in jail.
According to local media, Eberhard H. told cops that he only feigned his alleged foreign contacts and never really planned on selling Jessica. He said that for him it was “purely a fetish game”.
It has not been reported whether the couple have been charged.
The investigation is ongoing.
