Mystery of missing Swedish tsunami boy deepens

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a 12-year-old Swedish tsunami deepened today when a German was cleared of any suspicion of abduction and officials said the boy had not treated at any Thai hospital.

A child matching the description of Kristian Walker was seen leaving Taimuang hospital, in devastated Phang Nga province, a day after the tsunami struck. He was last seen with an unidentified foreign man leaving the hospital.

But police said today that the man, German Stephan Kaley, has been cleared after questioning. Sergeant Vichai Boonruen said police had confirmed Kaley’s account that he helped reunite two German boys with their parents and a Swedish youth with his mother.

“We have ruled out the theory that this man kidnapped anyone,” Vichai said.

Vichai Thienthavorn, permanent secretary of the Public Health Ministry, said that Kristian never showed up in Taimuang or any other hospital in Thailand.

“The reports about the disappearance of the boy might have resulted from a misunderstanding,” he said. “We have make thorough checks of the records, and no such name arrived at any hospital,” Vichai said.

Kristian and his mother have been missing since the tsunami hit Thailand. His grandfather, American Daniel Walker, had been going around with photos of Kristian, and doctors at Taimuang hospital in badly hit Phang Nga province said they had seen a boy who looked like him come in for treatment for water in his ears.

Kristian had been on holiday with his mother Madeleine, who is still missing, along with bother David, 14, and sister Anna, seven, who were found and are back home in Sweden.

Two Swedish police officers have been assisting in the investigation.

In the wake of the devastating tsunami, there have been unconfirmed reports of dozens of orphaned children being taken by unidentified people, some of them possibly child traffickers.