Overview
- Cologne investigators logged roughly 20 to 30 new tips following Wednesday's Aktenzeichen XY TV appeal for unsolved cases, including a caller who named a man said to have confessed.
- Police will verify and question the identified person, and they can compare his profile with DNA traces saved from the 1992 crime scene.
- Preserved evidence includes a keyring that did not belong to the victim and a white SPORT tennis sock bearing abrasion, lacquer and welding residue that point to a tradesman in blue workwear and ankle-high black work shoes.
- Authorities posted a €5,000 reward and are seeking former clients who knew Bianca Bersch, who worked under the name Yvonne in an apartment on Brabanter Straße in Cologne’s Belgian Quarter.
- Veteran cold‑case lead Markus Weber presented the appeal and is set to retire at the end of May, which puts a premium on careful handover as the new leads are checked.