Pictured: 'Rockefeller' when he was a young German fella

The photograph was taken in 1978 just before the blond teenager set off for America. His family lost touch with him eight years later.

Early days: Clark 'Rockefeller' in Bavaria 30 years ago

Meanwhile he apparently adopted numerous aliases and wormed his way into the upper tier of US society.

Clark Rockefeller stands during his arraignment at a Boston municipal court

Then last week he was arrested for the alleged kidnap of his daughter, seven-year-old Reigh, who lives in Britain with her mother, while she was on a supervised visit to see him in the US.

Police are baffled about Rockefeller’s background but the puzzle is slowly being solved by his family in the Bavarian village of Bergen.

Irmgard Gerhartsreiter, 80, said yesterday she felt mixed emotions at her son resurfacing.

She added: ‘For me, it was as if he was already dead.

'Now I have been told he is alive, and what he is suspected of doing...perhaps it would be better if he was dead.’

Younger brother Alexander, 37, said he thought Christian had wanderlust when he left the village.

The family had heard nothing from him since 1986, he said.

A friend, however, said he thought the idea of Germany’s national service had driven Christian away.

Reports claim Rockefeller used different names across several US states, marrying twice and passing himself off as a businessman and aristocrat.