Robin van Helsum

Who is Robin van Helsum?

Robin van Helsum is a Dutch citizen who went missing on 2 September 2011 and appeared in the Berlin city hall Rotes Rathaus three days later, claiming his mother had died in an automobile crash when he was 12 and that he had lived with his father for five years in the forests of Germany, where he buried his father after the latter died in August 2011. Dubbed "Forest Boy" by the media, van Helsum later admitted that the disappearance was a hoax and was sentenced to 160 hours of community service. Van Helsum was believed to have vanished before he was discovered working in Berlin.