Her son was only a few months old when a young woman from Lower Austria disappeared without a trace in 1982. Her partner then claimed that the woman had gone into hiding in Canada. A lie, as the police know by now. “My father killed my mother,” says the son of the two.
A few days ago, in a cozy apartment in Lower Austria. Sandra P. (52) has her brother Andreas G. (54) and a distant relative, Gerhard O. (41) (first name changed), invited to himself. And now they’re all sitting at the woman’s dinner table, talking again about their big subject: the terrible suspicions they harbor about one of their relatives.
Against Anton D. (66) (name changed), who was recently sentenced to 13 years in prison for sexually abusing three of his nieces, but has remained at large for the time being – as he is deemed unfit for prison due to ill health. According to Sandra P., Andreas G. and Gerhard O., the man would not have “just” committed these heinous acts, but also murder. To Maria O
“My mother wouldn’t have left me”
The Lower Austrian has been missing since 1982. “As long as I can remember, I want to know what happened to her,” says her son Gerhard, who has no memory of his mother. At the time of her disappearance, she was 21 and he was only a few months old. “No, my mother did not abandon me then, she was murdered. From my father.”
Sandra P. and Andreas G. nod in agreement: “Anton killed Maria. We are sure of that.” Because of the many clues that they have now collected against D. with the help of the police. who are there? ‘Let’s go back to the past,’ suggests Gerhard O.. Because his mother’s drama – and therefore his own – can only be explained by descriptions.
According to research by the 41-year-old, his parents — he a bricklayer, she a hospital assistant — met in 1979. “Their relationship was bad from the start,” the son said. Many people would agree. Like Sandra P. and Andreas G. Anton D. – her grandniece – Maria O. is said to have been “mentally oppressed and constantly beaten up”. Yet the woman became pregnant with him.
The Tragedy of a Young Mother
Why? Perhaps the reasons for this can be found in her resume: she, the latecomer of several siblings, grew up lonely in a village; with her elderly mother. She had little education and self-confidence, had no friends – when she was tied to Anton D. Who she initially forgave for his acts of violence. What she thought would change after the birth of her child would soften. A hope that was not fulfilled.
On the contrary, the couple’s family situation deteriorated further; so much so that youth services took their boys away from them. Gerhard O.: “I was then placed with a foster family – I know that from old files.” The mother then fought to get her baby back. She divorced Anton D. She was organizing a regular existence for herself and the little ones – and she had bought a beautiful dress for a custody hearing in March 1982. But she did not appear at the court hearing.
“Loveless Relationships”
Anton D. claimed that his “ex” had emigrated to Canada and went into hiding with one of her brothers. Information that satisfied his environment and the authorities. And so it happened that Gerhard O. was soon adopted by his father’s brother and his wife, “in a loveless relationship”. When he was in elementary school, he found out that the two were not his biological parents. And that Anton D., formerly known as “Uncle”, was his father.
“I sometimes saw him when I came to visit, he treated me without empathy. Except after I had a serious accident at 16 during my apprenticeship and as a result got 450,000 schillings from an insurance company.”
The dreams of a desperate son
His “real father” was suddenly “very nice” to him, “he took me in – until I gave him the money. Hours later he threw me out of the house.” Since then, Gerhard O. has concluded with Anton D.: “And I no longer believed his story – my mother didn’t like me anymore. That’s why I went looking for her.” Via Caritas, via various associations, via Facebook, without success.
“It was clear to me that she could marry, no longer called O. So perhaps my efforts to track her down had come to nothing, I thought—and that she probably wants to find me, too. That’s why ten years ago I called her maiden name again. To make it easy for her to discover me on social media.”
The desired contact did not come about, “which made me sad. Wouldn’t my mother really care about me, I wondered. And I focused more and more on my real present – and on my future.” The man managed to build a stable life through hard work, next to a soulful partner: “Thoughts about my mother faded into the background.” 2019 rumors of her supposed “real destiny” began to circulate.
An ex-partner of Anton D. had said that the man had murdered Maria O. in 1982.
Mysterious excavations in the forest
On which more and more acquaintances and family members reported alarming incidents. About the fact that Gerhard O’s father threatened women with the words “If you don’t parry, you will end like Maria” if they had not shown that they were obedient to him. About digging holes in a forest in early 1982. About the fact that he had made little progress and because of that he had concreted a construction pit for a garden wall on the property of an acquaintance.
Andreas G., his second cousin, eventually went to the police and reported these abnormalities. Extensive investigations were then started. Conclusion: During the interrogation of the witnesses, the urgent suspicion quickly arose that Anton D. had raped three of his nieces. Finally, there was hard evidence. There were only indications of the alleged violent death of Maria O., which in the course of the investigations were also confirmed by the behavior of D.
police drilling
When the police found out that the “missing woman” had never been to her brother who lived in Canada, “my father explained the opposite to me,” says Gerhard O.: “He stated that he heard from the officers that she was investigating there. , has two children – and is not interested in me.” It wasn’t just because of this — obvious — lie that the investigators ordered drill and probe investigations into the alleged dumping ground of Maria O’s body. However, no remains of her were discovered.
Sandra P., Andreas G. and Gerhard O. now want to privately arrange another excavation of the area – which is still owned by a person Anton D. trusts. However, he refuses to agree: “Even though we have assured him that we will be repaired and we offered another 40,000 euros.”
What does the person in the crosshairs think of the allegations? “There is a mega intrigue going on against me,” he claimed in an interview with “Krone”. As for the abuse allegations, he has been misjudged, his lawyer Astrid Wagner will soon be filing for a new trial from the judiciary.
What does he say about Maria O.? “I didn’t hurt her. But she’s very angry. Because she left me and our boy once.” In any case, he is offering a reward of 20,000 euros for information leading to her investigation.
“I want to bury my mother in a grave”
‘It’s easy for him’, his son says indignantly, ‘because he knows that my mother has been dead for a long time. He killed her after all.” Gerhard Os’s sincere wish: “That my deceased mother is finally found and that I can bury her in a grave.” Having a memorial “to the woman who gave birth to me 41 years ago”.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
