Overview
- Prosecutors charge the 49-year-old mother with child abduction, unlawful deprivation of liberty, abuse of a ward, bodily harm, and neglect of duty, with both grandparents accused of aiding years of isolation without school or medical care since 2015.
- The 83-year-old grandfather did not appear at the Landgericht Siegen, and the presiding judge deemed his absence unexcused due to the lack of a medical certificate.
- Because a defendant was missing, the indictment was not read, and the court indicated it may consider severing the case against the grandfather.
- The girl, now about 12 and reported to have developmental delays, is scheduled to be questioned on Jan. 20 under exclusion of the public.
- Investigators say the family misled the father and authorities for roughly six and a half years by claiming the mother and child had moved to Italy.