Perpetrator leaves behind motorcycle gloves
A father puts his little daughter to bed. Perfectly normal, everything as usual. And the next morning, the bed is empty. Investigators made the horrific discovery shortly afterward in a wooded area. To this day, it remains unknown who killed little Zeynep from Neuenrade. “I firmly believe that there are people who know more and didn’t say anything at the time.”
Investigators are reopening the case. We are in Neuenrade. This small town lies in the northwest of the Sauerland region and belongs to the Märkischer Kreis district. In 1986, a mysterious crime occurred here that continues to haunt the town’s residents to this day. It concerns the unsolved murder of Zeynep, who was five years old at the time.
The girl lived with her family here in this housing estate on the outskirts of Neuenrade. Zeynep lives with her parents in a small apartment in this multi-family building. The family comes from Turkey and had only recently moved to Germany. Almost all the families who lived in these buildings in the 1980s came from the same Turkish city – Bafra on the Black Sea.
Zeynep’s family lives here too. They all know each other very well. Many aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives live here in close proximity. That’s also why front doors and apartment doors are usually open. I have an appointment with the public prosecutor, Miriam Polk. She has reopened the “Zeynep” cold case.
She wants to finally solve the case and first had to look into what Zeynep’s life in Neuenrade was like in the 1980s. “What can you tell us about Zeynep’s parents?” “Her father was a worker in the metal industry. Her mother was a housewife and took care of the children. They played a lot in the street, with their siblings and with the neighbors.”
There was a lot of life in this neighborhood. “It was a close-knit family.” “Yes. And they even helped each other find jobs?” “Exactly, that was apparently very common back then. Zeynep’s father worked in the metal industry, and it was quite common for family members who wanted to work to simply ask their boss, ‘Do you have any work for me?'” “Were there ever any conflicts or arguments among them?” “There were a lot of people there.”
“So, to be specific, I now… I didn’t see any specific disputes in the file. Whether there were any, I can’t say for sure. But in general, it was a close-knit community there, a good neighborhood.” “Did people tend to keep to themselves? Did they integrate into the rest of Neuenrade? What can you tell us about that?” “Yes, well, it’s true that the community tended to keep to itself.”
“We also know that Zeynep, for example, didn’t speak German very well, although she may have had some knowledge of German for her age. And we also know that older children definitely had friends in German circles. So, yes, they kept to themselves, but there was a certain amount of mixing, especially among the children.” “So you could say they had a good time?” “Generally, yes, they worked well together.”
“It’s also worth mentioning that Zeynep’s father had been considering buying a house, the house he was living in with a neighbor. That means… they had already made plans for the future. Life was good, yes.” “Did you have a nice day, sweetheart?” “Yes!” Zeynep’s parents had a secure income and had just had a new baby. Their fourth child, and the family had always been together. It could have continued that way. But then came that one night in November ’86 that changed everything.
“Good night, my darling.” “Good night, Dad.” A Friday, on which everything seemed normal at first. Around 9 p.m. it was bedtime for Zeynep. And then the doorbell rang. “Who was that?” “It was actually Zeynep’s uncle, her father’s brother, with a neighbor. And it was specifically about this house purchase they wanted to discuss. Her mother opened the door, but they wanted to go to bed already.”
“Okay, that was the only reason they hadn’t invited the men in, because it was already quite late.” “Exactly, that was the reason. Zeynep’s mother went to the door. And you have to understand, the father had to get up at 4:30 the next morning, and by that time it was already quite late.” “Good night.” “Good night.” – The conversation is postponed until the next day. Then Zeynep’s parents also go to sleep.
Zeynep wakes up sometime during the night. “You now assume that Zeynep left the room quietly and alone and then went into the stairwell. Why do you assume that?” “Well, because we simply believe that the risk of being discovered would have been far too great for a perpetrator, that he would first have to go into the apartment, get Zeynep from the children’s room, where she wasn’t sleeping alone, but also with two other siblings.”
“And it wasn’t a huge apartment. That means you have to imagine that the perpetrator would have faced such a high risk of being discovered that you simply have to assume she probably left the apartment of her own accord.” “And the other people, the children and the parents, didn’t hear anything.” “That’s correct. Nothing was noticed. Zeynep left the apartment without a trace and without a sound.”
Zeynep left the apartment alone and stood in the stairwell. It is unknown whether she went to her grandmother’s apartment, located directly across the hall, to sleep. The police do not know what happened in the following minutes, nor whom Zeynep then encountered. What is certain is that the front door of the apartment building was open, as usual, on the night of November 14th to 15th.
“You have to go to work.” Because of the father’s early shift, an early start was necessary, at 4:30 a.m. “Can you describe the minutes from 4:30 a.m. onwards?” “It is known that Zeynep’s mother got up, wanted to prepare breakfast for the father, and then simply wanted to check on things. So she didn’t want to wake the children, but simply see if everything was alright, and then they discovered that Zeynep wasn’t in her bed.”
“Zeynep?” And then, of course, the first thing they checked was whether Zeynep was anywhere else in the apartment. They were able to rule that out relatively quickly and determined that she wasn’t there, so they started sending out a search party. “And then they alerted the police directly?” “As soon as it was clear that they hadn’t found her in the house or the apartment, they immediately informed the police and then joined the search operation together with the police.”
“And there was simply a great sense of solidarity within the family and the neighborhood, everyone pitched in.” “Zeynep! Zeynep! Zeynep!” The police and many men from the apartment complex searched the immediate vicinity of the buildings for Zeynep. Finally, they found a clue. “Don’t touch it.” And a short time later, they found her body.
“There.” “How was Zeynep’s body found?” “Well, Zeynep was hanging there, naked from the waist down… with several stab wounds to her neck, precariously suspended from a fence.” The autopsy of Zeynep’s body revealed that it was not a sexual offense. “What motive do you currently believe?” “The autopsy revealed that no sexual offense took place, so no rape.”
“However, there are of course sexual offenses that don’t necessarily leave traces, and the specific circumstances of the discovery – Zeynep was naked from the waist down. Her sweater was pulled up slightly – simply point to a sexually motivated act.” To this day, it remains unclear who did this to five-year-old Zeynep, but the perpetrator left a few clues.
For example, one of Zeynep’s socks was found, only one. “We’re naturally wondering what happened to the second sock. There are various theories. It could, of course, be somewhere. But it’s also possible that the perpetrator hid that sock… took it with them. Perhaps to keep it as a kind of trophy.”
“What other traces did he leave behind?” “Yes, we found a knife and a pair of gloves the next day—motorcycle gloves. We assume these belonged to the perpetrators and were used in the crime. They were left in a trash can.” “What explanation do you have for the fact that motorcycle boots were also found? After all, a knife was used.”
“One can therefore assume that a perpetrator could injure themselves, which is why motorcycle gloves offer protection. Accordingly, one can also consider that touching a small child is quite different when you do so with motorcycle gloves instead of your own hands. Regarding the motorcycle gloves, I can also say that they had a very clear defect on one index finger.”
“And we assume that this simply occurred because the person took off the motorcycle glove with their mouth, and that’s where the defect comes from.” But with possible DNA traces on the leather… Up until then, the investigation had stalled. But then the knife provided a clue pointing to a Turkish teahouse. It was actually a fairly classic Swiss Army knife, red and white.
Initial investigations revealed that this pocketknife had been used for everyday tasks in the teahouse – such as cutting tea. After the crime, it was simply gone, leading to the theory that the knife came from this teahouse and may have been stolen by the perpetrator. “A specific teahouse in Neuenrade?” “Correct. Exactly.”
Police questioned Zeynep’s family—her parents, relatives, and neighbors—and quickly reached their limits. They encountered language barriers, of course, but the investigation was conducted with the help of interpreters. Newspapers reported that investigators suspected those questioned knew more than they were letting on.
“Where does this come from? This suspicion?” “It’s just a feeling investigators have. I think investigators simply have a knack for it. That’s what investigators are there for, and that’s what they do. And I think they simply have this feeling that there might be more to it.” There was an initial mistrust of the investigators.
“Distrust is a very broad term, but of course people were a bit skeptical, and I don’t want to cast that in a particular light. You just have to imagine that this family had lost their five-year-old child and was, of course, emotionally devastated. And it simply took some time to gain the trust of the investigators that they were truly doing everything they could to solve this crime.”
But the lengthy questioning and investigations within the family have yielded no direct clues to the perpetrator. The mystery of Neuenrade remains, for now, a cold case, an unsolved murder. But since murder has no statute of limitations, the case will be repeatedly presented to the public prosecutor’s office over the years and reviewed to see if… perhaps more modern technology or new methods might offer further progress.
In 2025, the decision was made: Zeynep’s case was reopened almost 40 years later using the latest technology. At that time, DNA testing didn’t exist. This meant that only her blood type could be determined, but no concrete DNA evidence could be obtained. Currently, the evidence is also being examined using state-of-the-art methods, and this process is ongoing.
Miriam Polk is now actively searching for potential witnesses again. A Google search for the case from back then yields only a few scattered newspaper articles. Public outreach has only just begun. “We held a press conference, which was even reported in the Turkish media. So our press conference was reported in Turkey.”
“Viewers in Turkey who have information are asked to contact the police in Hagen. We have put up wanted posters all over Neuenrade. Neuenrade is covered in wanted posters. It’s plastered with information. Both in Turkish and in German, so that everyone understands what’s going on and can potentially provide information and help us.”
“Forty years have passed since the case. How much hope can there possibly be that something helpful will come of it?” “Yes, it has indeed been 40 years, it’s now 2026, but if I had no hope, I wouldn’t be sitting here today fighting for justice for Zeynep. We simply have to acknowledge that a five-year-old child died.”
“This child deserves everything we can do to solve this crime.” “What gives you hope?” “Well, it’s simply the fact that there was hardly any public awareness at the time. People kept to themselves; they probably talked about it amongst themselves, so I assume it was common knowledge that a five-year-old child had died. And I firmly believe that there are people who know more and didn’t say anything back then, but who can and want to tell us something now.”
This has not yet happened. Therefore, the reward for relevant information has been increased to €21,000. There is also hope that the statute of limitations for aiding and abetting has now expired. Investigators assume that the perpetrator was known to the residents of the apartment complex and that Zeynep was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“So that’s one possibility, this extremely unfortunate coincidence. What would be the other possibility?” “The other possibility would be that someone was waiting for Zeynep to perhaps leave the apartment at that moment. But one has to say that the possibility of coincidence – that the perpetrator saw Zeynep at that moment and then recognized a favorable opportunity – is the more likely one.”
“Your predecessor, Wolfgang Rahmer, also a public prosecutor here in Hagen, had brought up the term ‘honor killing’. What are your thoughts on that today?” “Yes, Senior Public Prosecutor Rahmer did raise that issue, that’s correct.”
“For us, at the beginning of the investigation, when we reopened the case, this was a conceivable motive that we considered. However, we have absolutely no evidence that this is a case where this honor needs to be restored. And that’s why we simply said that this honor killing motive is out of the question for us.” “Does that mean that no enemies of the family could be found at all?” “Correct. Exactly.”
“Is it conceivable that Zeynep knew the perpetrator?” “We even assume so. It must be said that we have absolutely no evidence that Zeynep ever shouted ‘yes’. So, as one can imagine, she may have known her perpetrator and simply went along with him.” The Zeynep case will be featured on the program “Aktenzeichen XY” at the end of November, and several people have contacted the program by phone.
“There was a concrete lead about someone who could identify the person who wore the gloves at the time. We naturally followed up on that. However, this wasn’t yet a lead that would lead to the suspect’s arrest.” “Has anyone from your neighborhood or family contacted you again?” “People from the neighborhood have already contacted us.”
“Further investigations were conducted and relatives were questioned again. So that has already happened.” “How did the parents react to the reopening of the investigation?” “First of all, the father contacted us during the broadcast and was very moved. He felt that Zeynep was portrayed very well. The family dynamics were also depicted very well.”
“There was a firm belief that the case would simply be reopened.” Many people of Turkish descent still live in this housing estate in Neuenrade. I spoke with some of them. They are still affected by Zeynep’s murder, but no longer want to talk about it on camera. This is also out of respect for Zeynep’s parents.
The two no longer live in their former house, but still in Neuenrade and regularly attend prayers at the mosque. Forty years after the crime, the Zeynep case is once again present in Neuenrade, and the hope of finding a perpetrator has returned.
