According to camera footage, the missing six-year-old Arian from Bremervörde in Lower Saxony disappeared from home alone. On Monday around 7:15 p.m. he was walking alone through the residential area where he lives, as the police announced on Wednesday evening. The investigators evaluated recordings from a private surveillance camera. The extensive search for the boy continued on Wednesday evening.
Arian has been missing since Monday evening. Since then, hundreds of firefighters, police and other organizations have been searching the area around the boy’s home. Dogs, drones, a helicopter and a tornado plane were also used to take aerial photos with a thermal imaging camera. The Oste River near the home was searched on Wednesday with a sonar boat and police divers.
The police had assumed from the beginning that the boy had run away from his home alone – wearing a long sweater, sweatpants and socks. The child is reportedly autistic and does not respond when spoken to. The situation is very serious, said a police spokesman on Wednesday, referring to the past two cold nights and Arian’s light clothing. “With every hour that passes, it gets more serious.” But: “We still have hope and we are still searching with undiminished commitment.” Everyone is motivated. “The biggest goal is to find the boy.”
The emergency services assume that the boy will not come forward if he notices people nearby. Therefore, a close search must be carried out, explained the police spokesman. According to him, the father immediately alerted the police on Monday evening when he noticed that Arian was no longer at home. “We are in close contact with the family,” said the spokesman. She will be looked after professionally.
In addition to the fire department and police, the German Red Cross, the German Life Saving Society and numerous local volunteers took part in the search for the six-year-old. “We work hand in hand in the operations center, it works wonderfully,” said the police spokesman. The sympathy is great.
With a view to a large map, the operations management determined which areas should be searched and in what order, as the spokesman for the Bremervörde city fire department, Bastian Kynast, reported. “The search continued throughout the night with dog teams,” said Kynast, who was part of the municipal operations team on Wednesday night. The number of firefighters was reduced at night so that they could recover. The fact that the child has been missing for such a long period of time is difficult. But: “You never give up hope.”
Where Arian went was unclear until midday Wednesday. From the neighborhood where the boy lives, a small dirt road leads past a rapeseed field to a wooded area. The police believe it is possible that the six-year-old went into the forest area.
Police have set up a tip line and released a picture of Arian. She also called on residents to check private camera recordings. A police spokesman wrote on Tuesday that people in the district should check whether the boy could be seen on surveillance cameras. “Although the town of Elm has been searched by emergency services, the missing boy could also be in a shed or similar hiding place,” it said.
Note: This article has been updated several times
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