About an hour later, at around 9:15 PM, witnesses travelling on the Bundesstraße 54 between Nienberge and Altenberge were overtaken by a Volkswagen Beetle driving at high speeds and, according to them, there was the lifeless form of a woman tilt against the window of the passenger seat.
[2] Boxel was partially undressed and placed on her stomach, and burn marks were found on her ankles from the heater in Volkswagen Beetle models of the time, confirming that she was transported by her kidnapper.
[2][3] Described as a "fun-loving party girl who liked to hitchhike", the 20-year-old Storm, an ironer from Schüttorf, was 1.68m tall and had black hair, which she typically wore with Cleopatra-style bangs (fringe).
The following Monday evening, she was seen at the "Tenne" again, and this time, witnesses claimed she started a conversation with a young man about 1.80 to 1.90m in height and who had short, dark-blonde hair.
[4] On Wednesday, 17 May 1972, Storm's body was found in a field on a then unpaved junction in the woods near Schöppingen: she was lying on her back, in a cross-shaped position, and her genitalia were exposed.
[6] On 6 August 1973, she wanted to hitchhike from Nordhorn to the Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf, accompanied by her friend Peter, who was planning a trip to Vienna, Austria.
[1] They started very early in the morning and arrived at the Franzosenschlucht near Bad Bentheim at 7 AM, but after realizing that they had less of a chance of being picked up due to excessive luggage, the pair decided to hitchhike separately.
[6] Hemmers was found almost six months later, on 22 December, in a small wood called Merfelder Bruch, opposite a horse breeding ground.
[6] Unlike the other victims, the perpetrator had apparently made some effort to conceal the corpse because he must have carried both the body and the heavy luggage into the area, which was inaccessible by car from the main road.
In the evening, a driver passing near the Samerott, an impassable piece of forest near Schüttorf, which encloses the former Germanic place of execution Rabenbaum, near Burgsteinfurt recounted a strange experience he had: he later told the police that he drove behind a dark-grey limousine with "rear fins" (possibly a Mercedes) with a "BF" license plate, the driver of which was apparently looking for an entrance towards the forest.
The body was in an advanced state of decomposition, and the authorities were unable to determine the cause of death, it was clear, however, that this was the work of the same perpetrator who operated in the area.
[1] Like all previous victims, Kunze had been strangled and left half-naked, with several belongings missing, including a bag with floral patterns containing library books.
[10] Following Storm's murder, a facial composite was created based on the additional descriptions of the witnesses, with a 5,000 Deutsche Mark reward offered for any potential tips.
[10] Police also inspected the 308 registered Mercedes cars in the area, but unlike the previous search, the owners never visited personally and only wrote letters to the investigators.
It has been suggested that the killer might be responsible for the following crimes: In the 1970s, the Münsterland murders provoked a great deal of press hype and were repeatedly showcased on the television programme Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst, which ran several broadcasts on the case from 11 April to 9 May 1975.