Arian (6) from Bremervörde-Elm in Lower Saxony has been missing since Monday evening. The emergency services’ largest search operation to date was launched on Sunday – but was unsuccessful until the evening. Despite the largest search operation to date involving 1,200 people in the state of Lower Saxony, the autistic child has not been found, a police spokesman said. But there is still hope of finding Arian alive. “Giving up is not yet an option for us,” said a spokeswoman. “We continue to search, day and night.”
The new campaign began at 9 a.m. in Kranenburg, a few kilometers north of Elm, and lasted until 7 p.m. 800 people formed a 1.5 kilometer wide human chain and roamed the area from the north towards Elm. The fire brigade, Bundeswehr and police involved were equipped with GPS trackers so that they could stay at the same height despite the great distance. “There are no new findings from the night,” a police spokeswoman said previously. There were also 400 other forces who searched elsewhere.
No evidence of crime
“I have never led such a large search effort before,” said Jörg Wesemann, head of operations for the Rotenburg police. The focus was on an area where numerous traces had been found in the past few days. The aim was to “turn everything around again without any gaps,” explained a police spokeswoman.
The search operation, which started in the morning, was supposed to last until 7 p.m. In addition, boats, drones and search dogs were still on the move. The Technical Relief Agency (THW) and the fire department searched ditches and pipes in them. The search area, which was previously focused on the Elm area, was expanded on Sunday. The search will continue on Monday.
There is currently no end date when the search will be stopped. “The large number of forces” that were deployed on Sunday “shows that we still have hope.” The police are still not assuming a crime. There is no evidence of a criminal case, said a police spokesman. The spokesman ruled out a possible wolf attack, as there are wolves in the area. According to the police, the large-scale search operation on Sunday is initially scheduled to last ten hours and will last until 7 p.m. But of course we hope to find Arian beforehand.
Missing since Monday evening
The autistic man has been missing since Monday evening. Since then, hundreds of emergency services have been combing the boy’s hometown and the surrounding area. Bremervörde-Elm is located between Bremerhaven and Hamburg.
The Rotenburg police have now posted a post on Facebook intended to encourage the civilian population to search. This is how the executive shared the contribution of Arian’s parents. “We are sharing this tip from the parents of the missing boy Arian so that you know how you can assist in the search,” said the police.
On Saturday night, Bundeswehr soldiers searched for the boy with night vision devices. The soldiers should travel in small groups. It was discussed that the emergency services would remain silent. The operations management therefore changed its tactics: on previous nights, the helpers played children’s songs and set off fireworks. This was intended to get Arian’s attention. The police spokesman said the tactics were changed because the other approaches had not been successful.
The police spokesman said there was no evidence of a criminal case. The spokesman ruled out a possible wolf attack, as there are wolves in the area. A wolf advisor from the Rotenburg district also thinks this is unlikely. Wolfgang Albrecht said that danger only exists in special cases, such as when a wolf feels attacked.