German tourist Stefan Ramin was eaten by a cannibal on the remote Pacific island Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia, according to reports. Charred remains, including teeth, thought to belong to Ramin, were found around a campfire.
Police are hunting for a local guide, “suspected cannibal” Henri Haiti who it is believed may have cooked and eaten the German tourist.
40-year-old adventurer Ramin was on a round-the-world sailing trip with his girlfriend Heike Dorsch, 37, when they stopped at the Polynesian island of Nuku Hiva, 930 miles from Tahiti.
Ramin set off on a traditional goat hunt with guide Haiti, leaving his girlfriend on the beach.
However the guide returned alone, telling Dorsch there had been an accident and they needed to get help. After luring her into the forest, Haiti tied her to a tree and sexually assaulted her, Dorsch said.
A frantic search was launched and last week police found the remains of bones including a jaw bone, teeth and melted fillings, in the ashes of a campfire, hidden in a secluded valley.
It has not yet been confirmed that the remains are those of Ramin, but prosecutors are not ruling it out. It will take several weeks to analyse the DNA evidence.
German newspaper Bild said that Haiti was a “suspected cannibal”.
“Around the fireplace clothes were scattered. A prosecutor said that the probability is that he was murdered by a cannibal and parts of him were eaten,” the newspaper said.
Deborah Kimitete, deputy mayor of Nuku Hiva, told local news website Les Nouvelles: “No one can believe what has happened. This has never happened here before, this is the first time, it’s horrible.”
