Robin van Helsum  Robin van Helsum (born 22 April 1992 in Hengelo) is a Dutch citizen who went missing on 2 September 2011 and appeared in the Berlin city hall Rotes Rathaus three days later, claiming his mother had died in an automobile crash when he was 12 and that he had lived with his father for five years in the forests of Germany, where he buried his father after the latter died in August 2011. Dubbed "Forest Boy" by the media, van Helsum later admitted that the disappearance was a hoax and was sentenced to 160 hours of community service. Van Helsum was believed to have vanished before he was discovered working in Berlin. Van Helsum was born on 22 April 1992 to Doreen and Johan van Helsum. Van Helsum's parents divorced shortly after he was born, and his mother emigrated to Portugal taking him and his older brother. As a child, he was rebellious towards his father and was known to be shy and rarely socialised. He is reportedly a fan of American cartoons South Park and Family Guy. Van Helsum's father Johan fought and won a custody case against his ex-wife and moved his sons back to the Netherlands upon their return to his legal guardianship. His father was known by his coworkers to be a dedicated father and brought up the children on a strict routine. Van Helsum had become traumatised as his mother attempted to contact her son by sending him gifts with van Helsum showing no interest. He attended the ROC van Twente College to study Media and Communications. He was known to miss classes and did not gain his final certificate. Van Helsum moved to a group home under supervised accommodation at the age of 16, after he became estranged from his father, but was forced to leave at the age of 18 when officials discovered that he had impregnated a fellow resident of the facility. Upon hearing the news of the pregnancy, van Helsum disagreed with the pregnant woman over plans for the child as van Helsum did not want the child whereas she expressed interest for the child to be born. His son, Damien, is now eight years old. At the same time, van Helsum was working as an intern at Voicedata, a local telecommunications company which he left in February 2011. After leaving his job, van Helsum went into a Youth Hostel. During his time there, he spent most of his time using a computer and often argued with the hostel owners over payment of bills. One week before his trek into Germany, van Helsum posted a message on the internet stating the need for housing for a long period of time to share with a roommate.