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ZDF’s ‘Aktenzeichen XY’ to Spotlight String of Unsolved Cases on March 18

Police hope the live appeal will generate tips that revive stalled investigations.

Overview

  • The prime-time episode at 20:15 CET will feature cases from Cologne, Dreieich, Berlin, Magdeburg, Euskirchen, Holzminden, plus an international missing-person inquiry.
  • Cologne 2023: two men, one in a shirt labeled “Polizei,” bound and brutally beat a 44-year-old, stole €14,000 and a watch, and were recorded by a hidden camera that saved footage to a cloud.
  • Dreieich Feb. 4, 2026: three masked intruders tied up four family members, severed part of a 70-year-old man’s ear, and fled with valuables; Offenbach police seek witnesses at 069/8098-1234.
  • Additional spotlights include Berlin’s 1986 murder of Renate Pollaczek, which yielded DNA on Camel cigarettes and the body without a database match, and a 2025 Magdeburg home invasion by a fake delivery man with an accomplice who fled in a white van.
  • Also featured are an Euskirchen 2024 break-in encountered by an 11-year-old, a Holzminden 2025 robbery that took jewelry and a Bundesverdienstkreuz (tips: 05531/9580), and the disappearance of Teresa Krug uncovered during a Dutch murder probe that led to her 39-year-old son as a suspect.