Fresh speculation regarding mystery girl's identity

It is one of the most shocking cases in Czech criminal history - eight year old Ondra was found naked, bound and dehydrated in a cupboard under the stairs, abused by his own mother, Klara Mauerova, a single mother taking care of three children. It then emerged that Ondra's thirteen year old sister Anna was a child without an identity whom Klara had taken under her wing. All three children were placed in a children's home from which Anna mysteriously disappeared.

Photo: CTK

The 13 year old has now been missing for seven days and police are investigating a possible kidnapping. Could she have been adducted by one of the Mauer family in order to prevent her from talking? Could she have been a victim of organized crime? Speculation surrounding the case has gone through the roof. On Thursday, after a six day futile search for the girl the police requested the assistance of the country's organized crime unit. Police spokeswoman Jana Sipkova says there's been no let-up in the search for Anna.

"With every passing day the area which the police are searching has broadened. It may seem less intense now than when hundreds of officers were combing the woods and fields in the vicinity of the children's home but now it's a different kind of work. We are working with information, combining and checking out various theories."

Bohdana Sysalova's four year old daughter Karolina disappered in 1996 when her father was taking her out for a ride in his car. He claims he was hit on the head and when he regained consciousness his daughter was gone. He is now in jail, having been sentenced to 13 years for his daughter's murder although he claims to be innocent and her body was never found. Could Anna - whose age is uncertain and who has no birth certificate - possibly be little Karolina? Only DNA tests can tell.

Anna was diagnosed as suffering from a social phobia with autistic traits, and some papers she'd scribbled on before her mysterious disappearance from the children's home were found to be extremely advanced maths equations taught at university level. Psychologists say the child borders on genius but that she would be totally helpless in practical terms. This would suggest that Anna is not out there somewhere hiding - but that she is being well hidden by someone - which seems to be the story of her unhappy young life.