Missing Tourist Cannibal Claims Dismissed

Police have denied claims that a German tourist who disappeared on a remote tropical island was eaten by cannibals.

Stefan Ramin, from Hamburg, went missing after arriving on Nuku Hiva in French Polynesia last month.

After a week of searches, charred human remains and clothes have been found near a campfire in a remote valley on the island.

The discovery led to reports that the 40-year-old may have been attacked and eaten by cannibals.

Testing in Paris will confirm whether the remains belong to Mr Ramin but is expected to take several weeks.

Officers on the island are now searching for a local guide named Henri Haiti, who had taken Mr Ramin on a goat hunting trip in the mountains.

He is believed to be the last person to see him alive.

After setting off on the hunt, Mr Haiti returned to tell Mr Ramin's girlfriend Heike Dorsch, 37, there had been an accident and that Mr Ramin had been injured.

But when she tried to raise the alarm, Mr Haiti allegedly attacked her and tied her to a tree, before fleeing the scene.

Miss Dorsch was later able to free herself and alert the authorities.

Mr Ramin and his girlfriend had set off on their yacht in 2008 before arriving at Nuku Hiva this September.

"The foreign ministry and the federal police are aware of the case and in contact with local authorities," said a German foreign ministry spokesman.