“Now the story is over. And you don’t have to think about it all the time,” says Manfred Kreuzer.
Uncertainty about the fate of his brother Franz tormented the family for twelve years. At the end of 2009, Franz Kreuzer disappeared in Spain at the age of 51. His last signs of life to his family in the Mühlviertel were two postcards from southern Spain in autumn 2009.
Three years later, the remains of an unknown man were found in the Sierra de Tejeda Natural Park in Spain. The Spanish police could not assign the bones to anyone. It was not until May 2021 that the remains were suspiciously compared with a DNA sample from a relative of Franz Kreuzer. Soon after, the Kreuzer siblings had sad certainty after so many years: their brother had died in the nature park years before.
Shortly before Christmas 2021, his seven siblings were able to bury their eldest brother’s urn in the family grave in Reichenthal (district of Urfahr-Surroundings).
“No outside influence”
The exact time of death and the circumstances could not be clarified even through an autopsy of the mortal remains such as bones and skull, says the missing persons investigator of the Upper Austrian State Criminal Police Office, Stefan Steininger. What is certain, however, is that the Upper Austrian probably died in a period of “around four months to a year” before the skeleton was found. “External influence could be ruled out,” said Steininger about the now closed case.
For Franz Kreuzer’s family, these circumstances are no longer relevant. “We have long expected that he is no longer alive,” says Manfred Kreuzer, who after the death of his parents took over their inn in the middle of his home community.
After a serious motorcycle accident in 1983, Franz never fully recovered. Since then he has suffered from hallucinations and memory disorders and lived in “his own world”, as it is said. He often denied his origins and instead called himself David Yesoshua. And in addition to his immense thirst for knowledge, his passion for travel had also increased. You never knew when and where he was going, said the brother.
Messenger service brought urn
Just like in 2009. The two postcards from southern Spain, which were the last contact with the family, and many other memorabilia of Franzi, as he was always called by the family, are neatly filed in two folders and photo albums.
More than half a year after the relatives were informed of the death of Franz Kreuzer in 2021, the urn came to Reichenthal from Spain by courier service at the beginning of December.
Shortly before Christmas, the burial finally took place in the family grave in the closest circle. Now the former globetrotter can finally find his last resting place in his original home. “He deserved it too,” says his brother Manfred.
Source: Nachrichten
