It was he who died in a tent near Matragona
Photo: Private archive
On a small mound of stones they placed a bouquet of freshly picked wild flowers. They lit a candle and said a prayer. They stood on Matragona for the first time in the Bieszczady Mountains. In the place where their father's body was found nearly a quarter of a century ago in a tent under the mountain peak. They had been looking for him for 24 years. They found it thanks to the new arrangements of tvn24.pl.
A sunny July morning. Dorota and Wojciech Juda lead upstairs – where on September 24, 2000, the mummified body of a man – 26-year-old Magda and 34-year-old Michał – was found in a tent.
Thanks to new findings from tvn24.pl and police activities, we now know that the man in the tent is their father – Robert Wieczorek. He was 37 years old when he left his house in Warsaw on May 31, 2000, and no trace of him was lost.
Magda and Michał waited for 24 years to find out what happened to him. In a moment they will stand in the place where he spent his last moments. They know this place from police photos that first published in January 2024. They recognized them as his father's blanket and shoes, which he had bought shortly before the disappearance. The tent wasn't theirs, he had to buy it on the way.
Wojciech Juda leads Magda and Michał to Matragona Dorota Juda
So now they go up the hill and wonder where their father came from in the Bieszczady Mountains. He preferred water to the mountains, he had no family or friends here.
When they get there, they stand in silence for a long time. They look around the small clearing, trying to guess where the tent was where their father's body was found. When Wojciech Juda pulls its remains from under the mound of stones, they look at them for a long time. They cut off a piece as a souvenir and hide the rest under the stones.
In a neighboring clearing, they collect wildflowers: milkweed gentian blooming with blue-violet flowers, purple forest purgatory and yellow St. John's wort. They place the bouquet on a mound of stones and place a white candle next to it. They pray in silence.
The Judah stand a little to the side. They see that this is a huge, important experience for Magda and Michał. – They literally examined the entire space organoleptically. It was very moving. And I thought to myself that there was some truth in it, that it was the right thing to do. This story had to be told so that it could somehow be explained to them, says Dorota Juda.
Under the mound where the tent is hidden, Magda and Michał placed wild flowers and lit a candlePrivate archive
He turned, waved and disappeared
Magda doesn't remember her father, she was only two years old when he disappeared. He only knows him from photos, recordings and stories from his loved ones. When she asked her mother where her father was, the woman replied that he was at work. Because how can you explain to a small child that his father left the house and was lost?
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