A teenage girl found wandering the streets of France with no idea who she was or where she was from has been identified as a missing 16-year-old German girl who vanished from her home more than 500 miles away.
The German police had been looking for the teenager, identified only as Isabella O., because of local privacy laws, and after she was found in France, her dad blamed the stress caused by COVID-19 lockdown and its impact on her schoolwork as the reason for the memory black out, saying that she simply could not cope any longer.
The dad, identified only by his first name, Thomas, said that the memory loss is so complete that she does not even remember who she is or have any idea of how she ended up in Paris.
Isabella O., 16, who comes from the town of Celle in the German state of Lower Saxony, was reported as missing on the morning of 22nd March.
She had online classes in the morning and it was not until noon that her younger brother noticed she was not home.
According to her parents’ statements, who were at work at that time, it was unusual that Isabella had left the house without taking her keys, wallet or phone with her.
They finally decided to call the police after the 16-year-old high school student did not return home after several hours.
The police search lasted for two weeks and included sniffer dogs that tracked a route Isabella possibly took the morning she disappeared. However, the tracks were lost in a nearby shopping centre.
Two weeks after she was reported missing, the French authorities announced that the girl had been found in Paris after a Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) employee from the German city of Wiesbaden noticed a “striking resemblance” between a girl featuring on a police post on Facebook and a girl found in France.
According to the police, the girl, who was found 800 kilometres (500 miles) from her hometown, was unharmed and there was no evidence of a criminal offence.
The father of the teenage girl, who has not yet been reunited with her, said she suddenly woke up in France without knowing how she had got there and asked for help from local residents. As she did not have any recollection of who she was, she had to be placed in a foster home.
Isabella, who is currently undergoing medical examinations and receiving treatment, is not allowed to see her family until her condition improves.
Isabella O., 16, from the German town of Celle in the state of Lower Saxony who disappeared in March and was found in France two weeks later. 
Isabella O., 16, from the German town of Celle in the state of Lower Saxony who disappeared in March and was found in France two weeks later.
Further medical examinations should reveal a possible reason for the memory loss.
Police spokesperson Brigit Insinger said that the missing person case is closed for now, even though they currently have no idea how she ended up in France.
Insinger added: “It might sound strange, but that’s all for now. If Isabella remembers something and tells us that somebody did something to her of course we would reopen the case.”
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Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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