Travel To The USA and First Marriage
In 1978 he met an American couple, Elmer & Jean Kelln, who were traveling through Germany. Later he used their names to obtain permission to go to the US, falsely saying that the Kellns had invited him to come stay with them in California. He initially made his way to Berlin, Connecticut where he found a family (the Savios) willing to let him live with them and he was able to get a spot as a foreign exchange student at Berlin High School in 1979. He told the Savios that he was from a wealthy family in Germany. Eventually he wore out his welcome with the Savios and he was told to leave.
Gerhartsreiter had the idea when he came to the US that he wanted to become an actor, so he headed toward California. By the time he got to Milwaukee he had changed his name to Chris Gerhart. While there he enrolled in a class at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Realizing that he wanted to become a US citizen he went looking for a woman who would marry him.
Gerhartsreiter first married 22-year-old Amy Jersild Duhnke in 1981 in Madison, Wisconsin, allegedly so he could obtain his green card. To convince her to marry him, he falsely claimed that if he had to go back to Germany he would have to go into the Army and would be sent to fight in the Cold War on the Russian front line. After the marriage took place, Gerhartsreiter left her behind and again headed west for California. Duhnke eventually filed for divorce in 1992 and, according to the divorce papers, claimed that Gerhartsreiter left her the day after the wedding.
Read more about this topic: Christian Gerhartsreiter
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