Phone booth was to be Israeli's jail
German police recover phone booth from Thomas F's apartment, where he kept Israeli woman captive
As German police continue to investigate the kidnapping of an Israeli woman in Hamburg, investigators released Tuesday pictures of the padded telephone booth extracted from the suspect's apartment, which was apparently meant for her captivity.
The suspect, 30-year old Thomas F, is refusing to cooperate with his interrogators and police are focusing on pieces of evidence recovered from his apartment.
These include explosives, barbwire, food sufficient for a long period of time and wooden planks which may have been intended to shut up windows.
Police also found more than 100 fire extinguishers, which detectives believe may have been used for producing the explosives found in the basement of F's apartment.
Police have released few details on the 26-year old woman, who was praised for her "bravery" in making a successful escape. She apparently resides in Tel Aviv, or had her passport issued there, and does not speak German.
A Hamburg based paper reported that the suspect met the woman last May, and that he planned to kidnap and hold her in his apartment, located in the city's Barmbek neighborhood.
According to the report, the suspect grabbed the woman last Friday, handcuffed and threatened her with a gun, and then took her to his apartment, in which police say he had supplies sufficient for weeks of custody.
His plan, however, was foiled by the young woman, who managed to jump out of the apartment when her capturer was not paying attention. The suspect tried to chase the woman, who escaped to a friend's apartment and called the police.
A police spokesman said that the woman's action showed great courage: "She was able to somehow move the barbwire around and escape though one of the windows. That could not have been easy."
Hamburg's chief Chabad rabbi told Ynet the woman was planning to return to Israel within the next few days. She spoke to Rabbi Shlomo Bistritzki, he says, when he approached to ask how she was doing, and told him her life had been in danger. He added that she had asked to maintain her privacy.
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