German police picks up investigation into disabled man abandoned in Rijswijk

An investigation launched after a severely disabled man was found abandoned near the Rijswijk fire department on an icy February night, led the police to identify the victim as a 25-year-old man from Germany. As the people suspected of abandoning him are also German, the investigation was transferred to the German police.

Passersby noticed the young man in his wheelchair near the Rijswijk fire department on Burgemeester Elsenlaan during the early hours of February 10 and called the emergency services. He was rushed to hospital with hypothermia.

All the victim had on him was a note saying that his family was homeless and that his mother could not care for him anymore. He had no ID and as his disability left him unable to communicate, it took the police some time to determine his identity. According to investigators, this process was helped along by information from witnesses.

The investigation led the police to believe that the man was likely abandoned in Rijswijk by two family members, a 50-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man. As they are in Germany, the investigation was handed over to the local authorities. The German police will decide whether or not to prosecute.

The young man is currently staying in a Dutch institution where he is well cared for, the police said. "In time, he will most likely be placed in a care institution in Germany."