Burnt corpse - After large-scale operation: Police want to clarify the identity of the dead man
After a dramatic operation by the police in the middle Franconian town of Altdorf, the real investigations by the police begin. The identity of a charred corpse found by a special operations team in a garden house on a wooded plot in the southern part of the commune on Sunday evening remains unknown.
Initially, the police could not determine if the heavily charred corpse was that of the 88-year-old homeowner. The fate of his 82-year-old wife was also uncertain.
Fire alarm leads to police operation
The background of the case is mysterious. There was a fire alarm in the afternoon on Sunday. The building was on fire, and the nearby forest was burning as well. When the fire department arrived to put out the fire, a man threatened the helpers with a firearm.
Special units shoot doors open
The police responded with a large force, including special units. The officers cordoned off the area and nearby autobahn. The fire department could not put out the burning garden house, and neighbors heard gunshots. However, the gunman did not fire back. This was likely due to the fact that the special operations team shot doors open to search the garden house, according to a police spokesperson on Sunday evening.
Next to the body was the weapon. Therefore, the police assumed that it was the man who had threatened the fire department with the firearm. "We don't know where the woman is," the police spokesperson said.
In the afternoon and evening, the police searched for hours for the armed man with high pressure. The investigators temporarily closed the nearby Autobahn 3 and tried to locate the man using a helicopter. After the helicopter had to refuel, the investigators launched a drone from the fire department.
The charred corpse was discovered in the Middle Franconian municipality of Altdorf, which is situated near the border with Bavaria, Germany. The incident involved a fire in the garden house of an elderly couple, which also led to a forest fire. The police, including specialized units, conducted a large-scale operation in response to the fire alarm and the threat posed by the armed individual. The man, believed to be the homeowner, was found dead next to the weapon used to threaten the fire department. The whereabouts of the woman are still unknown to the authorities.
