Drowned in Ache – Leon (6) begins his last journey

At 8 o’clock the gates of the morgue opened in Waidring, a small municipality in the Tyrolean Unterland with almost 2,100 inhabitants. Until 4 pm there is an opportunity for a silent goodbye to Leon. In a conversation with the “Krone”, his parents break their silence for the first time since the tragedy.

Lion, Bubble Machine, Turntable: “Everything He Loved”
“We hung over 250 photos in the morgue, as well as a huge lion that Leon loved so much. There are wish boxes with wooden hearts, in which everyone can make a wish for our son. Because Leon loved everything that spins, his urn is on a turntable, so he can spin all day long,” describe Leon’s parents Sandra and Florian. A screen shows videos showing “how wonderful our son was and how he had the most beautiful smile in the world because it was just always so honest”.

There is a bubble machine in front of the morgue, “because Leon loved bubbles,” the Krone’s parents said, adding: “The staff at Hüttner’s funeral are really incredible. They gave us a lot of time with everything and have all our wishes fulfilled.”

It’s “incredibly difficult to summarize our feelings,” say Sandra and Florian. “We still can’t realize what happened, it all seems so unreal. We are incredibly sad for the loss of Leon and are just trying to get through it day after day and night after night.” Support comes mainly from their families: “But also the incredible compassion on the funeral director’s website and on social networks really helps us a lot.”

“Reporters even wanted to go into the morgue”
However, in their grief for their beloved son, the parents feel persecuted: “Many reporters have been permanently in our city for a week. They stand in front of our house, make unannounced visits to the undertaker, offer money to local residents so they can talk to them. They were in kindergarten and even wanted to go to the morgue on Saturday while the construction work was going on.” All day long you had to put someone at the door to watch out.

“We are constantly approached from all sides and are offered contracts so that we can tell our story exclusively. But we don’t want to make Leon’s death professional,” emphasize the parents. They don’t mean the “Krone”: “Here we want to sincerely thank you.” Years ago – 2018 – the “Krone” got to know the little fighter.

“The ‘Krone’ has been guiding and supporting us for years,” said Sandra and Florian Apler on Sunday. “At Christmas 2021 alone, an article in the ‘Krone’ raised around 20,000 euros in donations. The ‘crown’ also played a major role in raising awareness of the syngap syndrome. For all these reasons, we also decided to talk to the Kronen Zeitung alone.” The footage was also only made available to the “Krone”.

Leon drowned in Ache after attacking father at night
The great interest and siege by the reporters is based on horrific events: According to previous information from the police, Florian Apler, while walking with Leon around 4 a.m. in the area of ​​the Redford Promenade in St. Johann, was hit by a an unknown person Perpetrators attacked, knocked unconscious and robbed.

Then the tragedy: Leon then got out of the pram under his own power and fell into the river, where he was carried away and 600 meters down the river could only be found dead. The 37-year-old father was questioned by the detectives, but the questioning yielded no new clues about the perpetrator.

‘Difficult to secure DNA traces and reconstruct everything’
What do the parents know about the current status of the investigation? “We are not yet aware of any new findings. We don’t want to jeopardize the investigation in any way.”