25. 07. 12. - 16:45
Police hunt caveman dad
A German caveman couple that dropped out of society last year to live in a cave in the Austrian Alps had to turn to crime after the woman had a baby.
The pair 27-year-old Gabriel Kaiser and his girlfriend Ayar Mayer, 25, decided to live off the land over a year ago - but struggled after she had a baby in the woods.
Austrian police said the baby had been born in the wild three months ago and the man had cut the umbilical chord with a hunting knife.
But they had struggled to cope with the child added to their number - and police got onto their trail after the man resorted to a series of break ins as they travelled through Austrian woods.
They finally caught the pair when officers raided their camp in a forest near to Lavamuend in the province of Carinthia. Officers had tracked them with increased urgency after the man stole a gun and ammunition from a weapon cupboard in a house in St Vinzenz.
The two adults had fled but the woman had been caught, and taken with her child to a refuge centre.
The 27-year-old German caveman escaped and is still on the run.
Policeman Michael Nössler said: "They had been living rough in nature for some months, they wintered in a cave and in summer stayed in a home made tent near to towns to raid vegetable gardens and fields."
The cave woman initially denied her partner had been involved in the break-ins when questioned but later admitted he had been involved in at least 16 break-ins at empty alpine homes.
Police are carrying out an intensive search for the man who is armed and therefore dangerous. A helicopter with heat cameras is searching woodlands for the man as well as search dogs and police.
Nössler said: "The whole area is between 15 and 20 square kilometres - we are searching a very large area. It is very difficult as it is forest with many hills and a lot of trees."
