Family lived for 22 years with dead dad

May 24, 2007

Potsdam, Germany - The remains of an East German doctor who vanished 22 years ago have been discovered in the ceiling of his own garage, to the shock of his wife and daughter, prosecutors near Berlin said Thursday.

'It was just after his 50th birthday. It was 1985, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. All he said was, 'I'm going out for a bit,'' the woman reportedly told police.

A search of the area had found no trace of him. Building workers found the bones Monday during renovations at the home in a village close to Potsdam, part of communist East Germany in 1985.

Next to the skeleton in an old pigeon coop over the garage were farewell notes and the bottle of schnaps which had been his birthday present. A pathologist said there was no evidence to suggest anyone else had killed him. The cause of death was not yet known.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur