{"id":2050,"date":"2026-05-18T06:55:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=2050"},"modified":"2026-05-18T06:55:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:55:36","slug":"murdered-student-comes-back-from-the-dead-31-years-after-she-vanished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=2050","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Murdered&#8217; student comes back from the dead 31 years after she vanished"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_e189fa\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Petra Pazsitka was 24 when she disappeared one day in Germany &#8211; a man later admitted killing her, but her body was never found and chance burglary years later revealed the truth<\/h2>\n<div class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque Byline_affiliate__x6U8c\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"DisclosureNotice_disclosure-notice__LgLFU\">This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/affiliates\/\">Learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36783602\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Petra Pazsitka\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783602.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/1_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783602.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/1_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783602.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/1_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783602.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/1_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Petra Pazsitka vanished for more than 30 years\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Petra Pazsitka vanished for more than 30 years<cite aria-label=\"Image: Red Tape Crime Files\/Youtube\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Red Tape Crime Files\/Youtube)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A woman who was apparently <a aria-label=\"murderedLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/murder\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">murdered<\/a> suddenly reappeared more than three decades after she vanished without a trace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Petra Pazsitka, from Braunschweig in northern <a aria-label=\"GermanyLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/germany\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Germany<\/a>, was 24 when she was last seen on July 26, 1984.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">That day, the computer science student went for a dentist appointment before catching the bus at around 3pm to visit her parents in nearby Wolfsburg.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">However, she never arrived and Petra&#8217;s case subsequently appeared on &#8216;Aktenzeichen XY&#8217; &#8211; the German equivalent of &#8216;Crimewatch&#8217; &#8211; that reenacted the young woman&#8217;s last steps before <a aria-label=\"her disappearanceLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/missing-persons\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">her disappearance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Yet nobody stepped forward after the show with any details of where she might be.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The following year, a 19-year-old carpenter\u2019s apprentice called G\u00fcnter K, admitted to raping and murdering of a 14-year-old girl in the same area where Petra was last seen. Two years later, he &#8216;confessed&#8217; to also killing the university student.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36783603\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36783603\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.73\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Petra \" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783603.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/2_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783603.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/2_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783603.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/2_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783603.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/2_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"An older Petra said she didn't want any contact with her family  \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">An older Petra said she didn&#8217;t want any contact with her family  <cite aria-label=\"Image: Red Tape Crime Files\/Youtube\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Red Tape Crime Files\/Youtube)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">But her body was never discovered and in 1989 she was officially pronounced dead and the case closed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Then, in September 2015, police in D\u00fcsseldorf investigated a robbery that took place inside a 55-year-old woman&#8217;s home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The authorities soon found the victim&#8217;s original ID in the property, prompting her to admit that she&#8217;d been living a lie for more than 30 years and was in fact Petra Pazsitka.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A police spokesperson said at the time: &#8220;She said only a little about the background of her disappearance and why she left back then. She said that she had prepared for it and that she wanted it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Police revealed the missing student had secretly saved up 4,000 Deutschmarks (\u00a31,500) to fund her plan and gave a student neighbour her apartment keys to take care of her pet birds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Petra&#8217;s first stop was a flat in Gelsenkirchen, around 150 miles from Braunschweig, where she slipped under the radar and started a brand-new life.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36783601\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36783601\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.78\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Petra Pazsitka\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783601.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783601.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783601.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/article36783601.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Petra claimed she was sexually abused as a child \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Petra claimed she was sexually abused as a child <cite aria-label=\"Image: Red Tape Crime Files\/Youtube\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Red Tape Crime Files\/Youtube)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Neighbours in D\u00fcsseldorf said she kept herself to herself and had minimal contact with others. Officials believed that she earned a living by carrying out work on the black market but didn&#8217;t go into any more detail.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cHer family is devastated. We are trying to arrange a reunion, but Petra P is adamant that she does not want any contact with them,\u201d a spokesman added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Last year, Petra spoke with German news outlet <a aria-label=\"BildLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bild.de\/regional\/duesseldorf\/petra-pazsitka-so-lebt-die-frau-die-31-jahre-verschwunden-war-69466adaba368aa01269ee0a\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Bild<\/a>, accusing her mum of beating and abusing her as a child. \u201cI was 24, a computer science student in Braunschweig. Smart, quiet, compliant. I didn\u2019t know why I was leaving. I only knew: I had to go,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A psychiatrist reportedly diagnosed sexual abuse in her childhood, allegations she can&#8217;t prove. But she added: &#8220;My body knows. I was sold to men too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">After beginning a new life, Petra went under the ordinay name of &#8216;Susanne Schneider&#8217;. She said her jobs consited of cleaning, teaching and illegal cash work &#8211; she always paid for things in money and never went to the doctors or on holiday, for fear of being found out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">These days she once more lives under her real name and still works as a cleaner, with no pension. Her only contact with the outside <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">world<\/a> is a coffee once a week with a nieghbour, adding: \u201cI know how this ends. At the food bank.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Petra Pazsitka was 24 when she disappeared one day in Germany &#8211; a man later&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg",1200,674,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka-768x431.jpg",640,359,true],"large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka-1024x575.jpg",640,359,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg",1200,674,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka.jpg",1200,674,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka-1115x674.jpg",1115,674,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka-1024x575.jpg",1024,575,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_Petra-Pazsitka-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?cat=7\" rel=\"category\">Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}