YOGTZE case

The YOGTZE case (YOGTZE-Fall, also BAB-Rätsel, "Autobahn Riddle") refers to the death of unemployed German food engineer Günther Stoll, which occurred on 26 October 1984. It is one of the most mysterious unsolved cases in German criminal history.

Background
In 1984, Günther Stoll, an unemployed food engineer from Anzhausen (then West Germany), was suffering from a moderate case of paranoia. Prior to his death, he occasionally spoke to his wife of "them," unknown people who supposedly intended to harm him. He mentioned "them," specifically, on the evening of 25 October 1984 (at approximately 23:00), before suddenly shouting "Jetzt geht mir ein Licht auf!" ("Now I've got it!"). He then wrote the six letters "YOG'TZE" (it is not conclusive if the third letter was intended to represent a '6' or a 'G') on a sheet of paper before instantly crossing them out.

Shortly thereafter, Stoll went to his favorite pub in Wilnsdorf, where he ordered a beer and fell on the ground, injuring his face. Witnesses stated that he was not under the influence of alcohol and that he suddenly lost consciousness.

He awoke and drove away in his VW Golf I. It is not known what he did in the next two hours. At around 01:00 on 26 October 1984, he went to Haigerseelbach, where he grew up. There, he talked to a woman he knew from his childhood and mentioned a "horrible incident, which was about to take place this night." Since it was so late at night, the woman advised him to go to his parents' place, and talk to them instead. He disagreed, stating that "they wouldn't understand him". Insisting on leaving the woman told him to return to his wife to Anzhausen. Agreeing to her advice, he left.

Discovery
At approximately 03:00, two truck drivers discovered Stoll's crashed vehicle in a trench adjacent to the A45, near the Hagen-Süd exit, 100 km from Haigerseelbach.

Both truck drivers testified independently of each other to having seen an injured person in a white jacket walking near the car. After calling law enforcement, the drivers found the severely injured Günther Stoll naked in his car. He was conscious and mentioned four male persons who had been with him in the car, and had run away. When asked if the men were his friends, Stoll denied it. He died on the way to the hospital.

The investigation
The criminal investigation showed that Stoll was injured before the crash, and must have been hit by a car elsewhere, and subsequently positioned in the passenger's seat of his car and driven to the location where he was discovered. Contrary to his injuries, the damages to the car were sustained at the location where the car was found.

It was also concluded that he was naked at the time he was run over. Other drivers reported seeing a hitchhiker at the Hagen-Süd exit. Neither the hitchhiker nor the person in the white jacket were identified. Suspicions regarding Stoll's holiday trips to the Netherlands, where he was thought to have made contact with drug dealers, proved unfounded.

Police were not able to recover the piece of paper with the letters "YOG'TZE". Stoll's wife stated that she threw the paper away the night Stoll died. Furthermore she just came forward with the information about the piece of paper, half a year after Stoll's death. Therefore police don't even know if "YOG'TZE" is the combination Stoll wrote on the piece of paper. The meaning of the letters "YOG'TZE" remains unknown.

Television coverage
On 12 April 1985, the case was presented on the popular German television program Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst.

Upon airing, several amateur radio enthusiasts called the TV station, stating that by changing the G in "YOGTZE" to the number 6, one gets the official call sign of a romanian radio station.