06.06.2026 14:31
The critical footage that led to the discovery of Nazar, who was kidnapped in Bursa at age 1 and untraced for 7 years, has emerged. The operation was initiated when Nazar's head was captured by a drone camera as her grandmother brought her to the garden of the ruined house. Eight-year-old Nazar was rescued from the ruined house where she was held captive, regaining her freedom.
Footage revealing the discovery of Nazar S. (8), who was kidnapped from her mother living in Germany at age 1 and sought as missing for 7 years, emerged. During the technical and physical surveillance by a 6-member special team formed in Bursa, the moments when the child was taken out to the garden of the ruined house by her paternal grandmother Hanife Taşdemir Stief (60) were captured by a drone camera. Following these images, Nazar was rescued from the house where she was held in an operation.
GRANDMOTHER TAKEN TO THE GARDEN, CAUGHT ON CAMERA Nazar's first image, recorded after 7 years and included in the case file, emerged. In the footage recorded at 04:06 on March 10, the date of the operation, the little child is seen being taken to the house's garden by her grandmother. While only Nazar's head was visible in the images, in footage recorded at 08:46 on the same day, the child, again taken to the garden by her grandmother, was observed going back inside shortly after. The special team, determining that the child was hidden in that house only by seeing her head, pressed the operation button without delay. Nazar S., whose traces had not been found for 7 years, was rescued from the ruined house where she had been held for 10 months, and those moments were captured second by second on camera.
KIDNAPPED AND HELD FOR YEARS Umut K. (33), born to a Turkish mother and German father, started living with Rebecca S. (30), whom he met in Germany, where he was born and raised. The couple's son, named 'Nazar', was born in 2018. One year later, Umut K. came to Mustafakemalpaşa district of Bursa to visit his mother Hanife Taşdemir Stief, who had remarried after separating from his father. Umut K., who did not return to Germany due to an arrest warrant for 'drug trafficking', did not allow his partner to take the son and return. Umut K., telling Rebecca S., who did not want to stay in Turkey, that their 1-year-old son Nazar S. was missing, kidnapped him. Rebecca S. returned to her country after filing a complaint with the police, and an investigation into the incident was launched.
FOUND 7 YEARS LATER BY A 6-MEMBER SPECIAL TEAM Umut K. died of a heart attack 2 years ago; the Mustafakemalpaşa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation to find the missing child. Within the scope of the investigation led by Chief Prosecutor Yusuf Canik, upon the instruction of Bursa Provincial Police Chief Kadir Gökce, a 6-member special team formed from the Robbery Bureau, Homicide Bureau, and Missing Persons Bureau offices under the Public Order Branch Directorate found Nazar, whose trace had not been found for 7 years, in the ruined house where she was held by her grandmother, after 30 days of technical and physical surveillance examining 300 hours of camera footage. The child was rescued in an operation conducted on March 10; grandmother Hanife Taşdemir Stief and Recai M., the son of Umut K.'s aunt who owns the house, were detained and arrested. Recai M. was released pending trial after an objection.
DNA TEST CONFIRMED HER AS THE MOTHER Nazar S. was taken under protection by the Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services. Rebecca S., who came to Bursa from Germany upon hearing the news, saw her child for the first time in 7 years. It was confirmed through a DNA test conducted on March 19 that Nazar, who said 'mother' for the first time, was the son of Rebecca S. The DNA report showed 99.99% compatibility. The custody of Nazar S., a German citizen, was granted to her mother Rebecca S. in a hearing held at the Mustafakemalpaşa Family Court on April 28, following examinations and research considering her interests. In the case where Rebecca S.'s lawyer connected via the Ministry of Justice's CELSE application through e-hearing, it was decided to return Nazar S., born in Germany, to the Federal Republic of Germany, her habitual residence, and to deliver the child to her mother Rebecca S., while the travel ban and passport restrictions were lifted. Nazar was delivered to her mother Rebecca S., who came to Bursa from Germany on April 29, upon the court notification reaching the Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services where she was under temporary protection.
LIVING WITH MOTHER AND SISTER After the mother and son left the Bursa Children's Homes, Nazar completed passport procedures at the German Consulate General in Izmir and went to the country. While Nazar began living in Germany with her mother and her sister Emilia Zafira, whom she first met on April 6 at the Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services, the investigation conducted by the Mustafakemalpaşa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office was completed. The indictment prepared against the arrested defendant grandmother Hanife Taşdemir Stief and the unarrested defendants, her siblings and relatives Mustafa T., Ayşe T., Recai M., and Gülşen A., was accepted by the Mustafakemalpaşa Heavy Penal Court.
PRISON DEMAND FOR DEFENDANTS In the indictment, where it is requested that the 5 defendants, 1 of whom is arrested, be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison for 'human trafficking against persons under 18 years of age', due to the absence of any health records, school records, or any trace or evidence of Nazar S. from 2019, when she was reported missing, until the date she was found, it was also requested that Recai M., whom Nazar S. stated in her statement had beaten her, be punished for 'intentional injury against a child unable to defend herself'.
DETERMINED TO HAVE GONE TO A DIFFERENT HOUSE EVERY DAY In the indictment, it was noted that after Rebecca S. filed a complaint in 2019 alleging that her child was kidnapped by the father Umut K. and grandmother Hanife Taşdemir Stief, the grandmother was convicted in the case filed; after Umut K.'s death in 2024, the Chief Prosecutor's Office reopened the investigation file and continued research, issuing a judicial control order for the grandmother who was required to sign in at the police station once a week. The indictment stated that Hanife Taşdemir Stief, under physical surveillance, after signing and leaving the police station, would go to her officially registered house and stay there for a while, then was determined to go to another residence, and thus the child was rescued from the house where she was held through the operation.
SHE TOOK HER GRANDCHILD FROM DISTRICT TO DISTRICT It was determined that Hanife Taşdemir Stief constantly changed the location of her grandchild, whom she hid in the vineyard houses of her relatives in Gemlik, Mudanya, and Kurşunlu, due to fear of being caught, and brought him to Remzi M.'s house 10 months before the operation.
SHE CHANGED CLOTHES AND ROUTES TO AVOID CAPTURE It was found that Stief, who went to the house where she was staying in the district every day, constantly checked her surroundings on the road, changed her clothes, and used different routes when coming to the house where she was holding her grandchild. As a 6-person special team followed Hanife Taşdemir Stief step by step, 9 of her relatives were put under technical and physical surveillance; with the first image of the little child obtained after 7 years, the operation button was pressed.