Germany and Hanover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke has died after being hit by a train in an apparent suicide, local police said Tuesday. “First indications point to suicide,” a media officer for the Lower Saxony police said before adding Enke's body was found at a train crossing in Neustadt am Ruebenberge near Hanover. “At 1825 (1725GMT) he was run over by a regional express train running between Hamburg and Bremen,” said police spokesman Stefan Wittke. “The train was travelling at the speed of 160-kph.” The player's friend and consultant Joerg Neblung told reporters: “I can confirm this is a case of suicide. He took his own life just before six (P.M.). Enke, 32, won eight international caps and was in the running to play at the World Cup in South Africa next year. Enke, who had spells with clubs in Spain, Turkey and Portugal before signing for Bundesliga team Hanover in 2004. Enke had been suffering from depression, his widow said Wednesday. Speaking at a news conference called by his club, Teresa Enke said her 32-year-old husband was afraid their adopted daughter would be taken away from the family if his illness became public knowledge. The couple's biological daughter died three years ago from a heart problem she had from birth when she was 2. “I tried to be there for him,” Teresa Enke said, choking back tears. “When he was acutely depressive, it was a difficult time. We thought we'd manage everything. We thought with love, we could do it. But you can't.” Mrs. Enke said her husband had been afraid that he would lose “his sport, our private life,” if his illness had become known. In May, the couple adopted a girl who is now eight months old. Police said Wednesday they had found a suicide note, with no indications the death was anything but a suicide. Valentin Markser, a doctor who treated Enke, said the goalkeeper first sought treatment in 2003, when he lost his starting place at Barcelona and developed anxieties and fear of failure. Enke again sought treatment in early October, after developing a mysterious illness. Doctors took several weeks to determine that he had been suffering from a bacterial intestinal infection. In a suicide note, Enke apologized to his family and the staff treating him for deliberately misleading them into believing he was better, “which was necessary in order to carry out the suicide plans,” Markser said. “Despite daily treatment, we did not succeed in preventing his suicide,” the doctor said. Enke had declined to stay at a clinic, Markser said. The German football federation canceled a friendly with Chile slated for Saturday in Cologne. Hundreds of Hannover fans paid tribute to Enke at the stadium Wednesday. Chancellor Angela Merkel sent a “very personal” note to Enke's widow to convey her “consternation and compassion,” government spokesman Christoph Steegmans said.
