Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)
A GERMAN woman has vanished allegedly owing 3000 euros in rent and running off with her neighbour’s car.
Paola Bettina Rother did the midnight flit from her home in Olvera after Good Samaritan neighbour Mick Walker lent her his car, a green Ford Focus.
Now incredibly, Walker, a former engineer, has been told by his insurance company Linea Direct that it might not pay out.
“They say because I gave the keys to her, technically the car was not stolen,” he said.
He has now called in both the police and the Olive Press to help track down Rother, who has a teenage daughter and who may have moved to Granada.
Walker, 61, said: “I feel very angry. I’ve been taken advantage of and I just think how stupid I was not to see I was being tricked.”
The father-of-three, who moved to Olvera four years ago, explained how Rother had first borrowed the car a few weeks before.
“She had turned up on my doorstep in tears with a story about her boyfriend being in hospital after a car crash,” he explained.
Walker, 61, said: “I feel very angry. I’ve been taken advantage of and I just think how stupid I was not to see I was being tricked.”
“She told me she urgently needed to borrow a car to go and see him and I was only too happy to help, seeing her desperation.”
But when she returned from the trip the following day – later than agreed and with a puncture – she refused to give him back the key.
“I tried in vain to get the key back but she kept fobbing me off with excuses. I discovered she had later used the car on another occasion, without my permission.”
To prevent it from happening again he went out of his way to hide the car, but she managed to find it by following him to it one evening.
A few days later she disappeared after spending a few late nights packing up her belongings.
On finally entering the rented home the following day, local estate agent Zoe Males could not believe the state it had been left in.
As well as owing nine months rent to the owner, who lives in the UK, she had left the place in an awful state.
“There was furniture broken, paint over the beds and the place looked like a total tip,” said Males.
“It looked like a doghouse and there was rubbish in the garden. I quickly changed the locks and packed up the remainder of her belongings, which she had been intending to come back for.”
She also discovered that the local police has been investigating a number of disturbances at the house between Rother and her Spanish neighbours.
“There was furniture broken, paint over the beds and the place looked like a total tip,” said Males.
Much of this problem seems to have come from the smell from chickens and dogs that Rother kept at the house.
“The Guardia are also looking for her for other accusations after she failed to turn up to court on two occasions,” said Males.
Rother’s neighbour, Louise Mayers, 39, who owns a holiday home in Olvera said: “Nobody in the street liked her because she was very hostile towards the Spanish.”
One of her Spanish neighbours, who did not wish to be named, said: “She was rude and caused lots of problems.”
A Linea Directa spokesperson said: “Our company policy is to wait 30 days in case the car appears.
“If it hasn’t turned up by then I am sure we will pay out.”
Olvera police refused to comment on the case but did not deny they were investigating Rother.
The Olive Press was unable to contact Rother, who is believed to be living in Granada province. Despite numerous calls to her mobile she never answered.
Rother is in her mid 50s with greying, short hair. She has a teenage daughter about 15 years. If you have seen the car contact jon@theolivepress.es or call 951166060.
Mr Mick Walker is my uncle and is the most geniune caring person you would wish to meet, honest as day is long, a family man wth 3 great children, i think this is a disgrace and this woman should be brought to justice. 3 months ago my mother and micks younger sister passed suddenly, mick flew over to the uk to be with us at the time of need, he has had to go back home a very upset and gullable man, and as it seems this woman has taken advantage of him, i just hope that this will be sorted by the neccessary authorities.