Dark Sentiments 2011 – Day 17: Still More Cannibalism
Posted By Randy on October 17, 2011
Stefan Ramin
If you just slid into Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, or any city in the world for your very first time, would you agree to go touring alone with someone you had only just met? If you have a death wish don’t bother to answer that, but most people wouldn’t.
Ramin and Dorsch in happier times. Click to enlarge.
Yet every year people in search of adventure expose themselves to unnecessary danger on trips to exotic locales because they don’t know the difference between being adventurous and being a fucking idiot. Case in point today is 40 year old German adventure seeker Stefan Ramin who embarked by catamaran on the adventure of a lifetime with his 37 year old girlfriend Heike Dorsch in 2008, ending up anchored off the coast of the Polynesian island of Nuku Hiva on 16 September 2011. Interestingly, Herman Melville of Moby Dick fame claimed he was once captured by cannibals on Nuku Hiva but managed to make good his escape. True or not, that’s more than a little prophetic
Henri Haiti - alleged rapist and people eater.
It seems Mr. Ramin engaged the services of a locally registered guide, 31 year old Henri Haiti to take him on a “traditional goat hunt” while his companion stayed behind. When Haiti later returned to tell Ms. Dorsch of an accident and tried to convince her to follow him into the jungle to help Ramin, she became suspicious and refused. Details are scarce, but the general consensus is that Haiti managed to capture her, tied her to a tree, and sexually assaulted her. At some point she managed to free herself and the hunt was on.
On Wednesday, 12 October 2011, human remains were found in the remnants of a camp fire that dental records have confirmed belonged to Stefan Ramin, and the results of DNA tests are pending. Police and military continue the search for Henri Haiti who is still at large.
This is my second article on cannibalism this season, and it hasn’t escaped my notice that it’s also the second involving a German person being eaten. I sincerely hope this doesn’t represent a trend.
Very good points. People do put their trust in guides all the time, maybe without doing enough research. Can’t be too careful.
Interestingly, all reports are that the guide here was approved by and registered as such with “local authorities”, whatever the hell that means. After all, in last year’s Dark Sentiments series we dealt with Russell Williams, a Canadian Air Force Colonel who was Commander of Canadian Forces Base Trenton – http://randy.whynacht.ca/archives/2588 – he even flew the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, back to travel, we must be aware of cultural and political realities when we travel to places beyond our comfort zones.